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COP«^IGHT DEPOSIE 




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rounds a member of the ^^IS[ational £ducation 
oAssociation, are cordially invited to 'visit 

'where you may see all the processes involved 
in manufacturing textbooks. Tour ^. <S. cA. 
.badge and this card 'will serve in place of the 
usual guest's ticket. 

The trip from T^ark Street to Kendall 
Square takes about three minutes. The entire 
round trip, 'with ample opportunity to see the 
T^ress, may be made in an hour and a half 

TO GET TO THE ATHEN^UM PRESS 

Take a subway train for Cambridge at T^ark 
Street, Boston, 

Qet off at the first station, Kendall, just after 
crossing the Charles %iver. 

On July 5, 6, y, from p to lo A.M. and 
from 2 to ^ P. M., our automobiles isuill be found 
'waiting in Kendall Square to take you to the 
oAthenceum T^ress, about five blocks away. Look 
for the automobiles in Kendall Square marked 
^^ oAthenceum ^ress," 

giNN AND COMPANY 



BOSTON 

A GUIDK BOOK TO THE CITY 
AND VICINITY 

BY 

EDWIN M/BACON 

REVISED liV 




GINN AND COMPANY 

BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON 
ATLANTA • DALLAS • COLUMBUS • SAN FRANCISCO 






PA'^'^' 



COPYRIGHT, 1903, 1922, BY GINX AND COAIFAW 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

322.6 



JUN26'22 

OINN AND COMPANY- PRO 
PRIETORS ■ BOSTON • U.S.A. 

©CI.AH77J306 



.^ 



CONTENTS 



NoTK 



Iny. Way about Town. . 

I. Modern Boston , . . 
Historical Sketch . . . 
Boston Proper .... 
1. The Central District 
The North End . . 
TheCharlestown District 
The West End . . 
The Back Bay . . . 
The South End . . 
The Outlying Districts 
East Boston . . . 
South Boston . . . 
Roxbury District 
West Roxbury District 
Dorchester District 
Brighton District . 
Hyde Park District . 



Pac.i- 



I 
I 

2 

4 
54 

65 
68 

74 
95 
97 
97 
97 
98 

99 
100 
100 
100 



II. The Metropolitan Region 101 

Cambridge and Harvard . . 10 1 
Brookline, Newton, and 

Wellesley 113 

\Valtham and Watertown 114 
Milton, the Blue Hills, 

Quincy, and Dedham . . 114 

Winthrop and Revere . . . 117 

Chelsea and Everett . . . 117 

Somerville and Medford . . 118 



Page 

III. Public Parks .... 119 

Boston City System . . 119 

Metropolitan System , . . 120 

Parkways 121 

I\'. Day Trips from Boston 

Lexington and Concord . . 122 
Boston Harbor and Massa- 
chusetts Bay 126 

The North Shore .... 126 

Lynn 126 

Nahant 126 

Marblehead 126 

Salem 12S 

Beverly 128 

Gloucester 128 

Rockport 128 

The South Shore .... 129 

Hingham 129 

Cohasset 129 

Scituate 129 

Marshfield 129 

Duxbury 129 

Kingston 130 

Plymouth 130 

Index 131 

Reference Maps: Plates 1-IV 

Important Points of Interest: 
See reverse of reference maps 



NOTE 

The chief merit of any guide book is that it brings the treatment of 
its subject to the present moment. Such has been the intention in the 
preparation of this Httle book. It is something more than a guide book 
to Boston : it is an historical itinerary, a progress from past to present. 
Its scope embraces, besides the municipahty of Boston proper, the 
various communities which are comprehended in the term " Greater 
Boston " ; historical places and literary shrines beyond these limits, as 
Salem, Plymouth, and Concord ; the North Shore and the South Shore 
of Massachusetts Bay. Care has been taken to provide the visitor with 
every possible aid to the convenient and comfortable exploration of the 
territory treated. Diagrams and sketch maps are scattered through the 
pages ; the typographical arrangement, with the use of different kinds 
of type to emphasize places, points, and objects, is designed to make 
the material available for quick reference ; the text is profusely illus- 
trated ; and at the back of the book are maps, printed in colors to 
render them more distinct in detail. 

Among the distinctive and superior features of this guide are the 
following : 

1. The material is authoritative and has been obtained by reference 
to original sources and documents. Hence the text is especially 
authentic and trustworthy. 

2. The four pages of maps in colors, and the numerous sketch maps 
inserted in the text, provide unusually adequate map material, at once 
convenient and exhaustive. Those who are accustomed to spread out 
in the wind the large folder maps commonly to be found in guide books 
of this character will doubtless appreciate the superiority of these small 
sectional maps and diagrams. 

3. In other respects the guide is made most convenient. A helpful 
table of contents, the logical arrangement of the material, the running 
titles, and a comprehensive alphabetical index contribute to this end. 
Strangers will find the section entitled "The Way about Town" (pp. vii- 
viii) particularly valuable. 



VI 



\ 



THE WAY ABOUT TOWN 



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■ ^-^^ ^\\& stranger visiting Boston for the first time will 
J??'"'^^^^ find the city's reputation of being exceedingly intricate 
■' ■ ^ '-^"^ -' and tortuous to be deserved. Hut he may quickly 
get a general idea of the directions of the streets, and 
of the ways of reaching desired points, if he will grasp 
at the outset three important facts, as follows : 



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■^y\•\■■^ 






I. The well-worn term "The Hub " applies to down- 
town Boston in no mere fanciful sense. Roughly, the 
streets of this confusing district form a sort of wheel. The 
hub of the wheel, however, is not one fixed point, for the streets radiate from 
several squares lying between the State House on Beacon Hill and the Old 
State House on State Street. Plates I and II at the back of the book will 
show at a glance that the figure of the wheel applies with sufficient exactness to 
warrant its use. In fact the stranger will save himself many steps and much 
time by ascertaining at once the names and directions of a few main thorough- 
fares, among them State Street, Milk Street, Washington Street, TrCmont 
Street, Beacon Street, Summer Street, Hanover Street, and Atlantic Avenue. 




II. The Back Bay District is arranged chiefly in the form of a rectangle, 

its eastern border united to the Central District described above at the Public 
Garden. The accompanying diagram indicates its general form, and points out 
the principal connections with down-town Boston. 

III. There are in Boston several important points of arrival or departure 
in which all routes center. The visitor cannot go far astray if he makes him- 
self familiar with these few landmarks. The most essential are the following: 

vii 



Vlll 



THE \VA\ AHOLT TOWN 



Copley Square. Through this square, Boylston Street, running nearly east 
and west, is an important thoroughfare. Huntington Avenue, diverging to the 
southwest from Boylston Street at this square, is another artery. Trinity Place, 
to the south of the square, leads direct to the New York Central Trinity Place 
Station (one block), where all outgoing trains stop; and at Huntington Avenue 
and Irvington Street (one block southwest of the square) is the Huntington 
Avenue Station of the same line, where all inward-bound trains stop. Dartmouth 
Street leads to the Back Bay Station of the New \'ork. New Haven & Hartford 
Railroad (one block south of the square), the stopping place for all trains in both 

directions. In or about Copley 
Square are grouped many im- 
portant buildings, institutions, 
churches, and hotels. 

The Intersection of Wash- 
ington, Summer, and Winter 
streets, in the middle of the 
down-town business quarter. 
Washington Street is not only 
the great artery of retail traffic 
but it is the main highway of 
travel north and south through 
the older part of the city. Winter 
."Street, but one block long, con- 
nects with Tremont Street at 
the Park Street Subway station ; 
Summer Street is practically a 
lontinuation of it eastward to 
the South Station and the water. 
Park Street, also in the down- 
town business quarter. H ere are 
the central stations of the .Sub- 
way at the head of the Common, — the most important point in the rapid-transit 
service of the city (see map, p. 36). At the head of the short street (a single block 
in length) is the State House; at its foot is the thoroughfare of Tremont Street, 
running south and north, from which cross streets at irregular intervals lead 
easterly to various parts of the general business districts. 

Scollay Square, at junction of Tremont and Court streets, Cornhill and Tre- 
mont Row. A central point from which northern parts of the city are reached. 

The North Station, Causeway Street. This is occupied by the several 
divisions of the Boston & Maine Railroad system, whence trains are taken for 
points north, east, and west. 

The South Station, Dewey Square. Occupied by the New York, New 
Haven & Hartford and the New York Central Railroads, whence trains are taken 
for the south and west. 

Application may be made with confidence to policemen and .street-car 
conductors. The politeness of these ofificers is proverbial. 




.South Station 



BOSTON: A GUIDE BOOK 



I. MODERN BOSTON 




HISTORICAL SKETCH 

HE town of Boston was founded in 1630 by English 
colonists sent out by the " Governor and Company of 
the Massachusetts Bay in New England," under the 
lead of John Winthrop, the second governor of the Bay 
Colony, who arrived at Salem in June of that year 
with the charter of 1629, It originated in an order 
passed by the Court of Assistants sitting in the " Gov- 
ernor's House " in Charlestown, on the opposite side of 
the Charles River, first selected as their place of settle- 
ment. This order was adopted September 17 (7 O. S.), 
and established three towns at once by the simple 
dictum, " that Trimountane shalbe called Boston ; Mat- 
tapan, Dorchester; & ye towne vpon Charles Ryver, Waterton." " Tri- 
V i^j mountane " consisted of a peninsula with three hills, the highest (the 
^li present Beacon Hill), as seen from Charlestown, presenting three distinct 
peaks. Hence this name, given it by the colonists from Endicott's com- 
pany at Salem, who had preceded the Winthrop colonists in the Charles- 
town settlement. The Indian name was " Shawmutt," or " Shaumut," 
which signified, according to some authorities, " Living Waters," but according 
to others, " Where there is going by boat," or " Near the neck." The name of 
Boston was selected in recognition of the chief men of the company, who had 
come from Boston in England, and particularly Isaac Johnson, " the greatest 
furtherer of the Colony," who died at Charlestown on the day of the naming. 
The peninsula was chosen for the chief settlement primarily because of its 
springs, the colonists at Charlestown suffering disastrously from the use of brack- 
ish water. The Rev. William Blaxton, the pioneer white settler on the penin- 
sula (coming about 1625), then living alone in his cottage on the highest hill 
slope, " came and acquainted the governor of an excellent spring there, withal 
inviting him and soliciting him thither." 

The three-hilled peninsula originally contained only about 783 acres, cut 
into by deep coves, estuaries, inlets, and creeks. It faced the harbor, at the west 
end of Massachusetts Bay, into which empty the Charles and Mystic rivers. It 
was pear-shaped, a little more than a mile wide at its broadest, and less than 
three miles long, the stem, or neck, connecting it with the mainland (at what 
became Roxbury) a mile in length, and so low and narrow that parts were not 

I 



BOSTON PROPER 



infrequently overflowed by the tides. By the reclamation of the broad marshes 
and fiats from time to time, and the filling of the great coves, the original area 
of 783 acres has been expanded to 1801 acres ; and where it was the narrowest 
it is now the widest. Additional territory has been acquired by the development 
of East Boston and South Boston, and by the annexation of adjoining cities 
and towns. Thus the area of the city has become more than thirty times as 
large as that of the peninsula on which the town was built. Its bounds now 

embrace 30,295 acres, or 47. 34 square 



miles. Its extreme length, from north 
to south, is thirteen miles, and its ex- 
treme breadth, from east to west, nine 
miles. While the Colonial town was 
confined to the little peninsula, its 
jurisdiction at first extended over a 
large territory, which embraced the 
present cities and towns of Chelsea 
and Revere on the north, and Brook- 
line, Quincy, Braintree, and Ran- 
dolph on the west and south. So 
there was quite a respectable "Greater 
Boston" in those old first days. The 
metropolitan proportions continued 
till 1640, and were not entirely reduced 
to the limits of the peninsula and 
certain harbor islands till 1739. 

East Boston is comprised in two 
harbor islands: Noddle's Island, 
which was "layd to Boston" in 1637, 
and Breed's (earlier Hog) Island, 
annexed in 1635. South Boston was 
formerly Dorchester Neck, a part of 
the town of Dorchester, annexed in 
1804. The city of Roxbury (named as a town October 8, 1630) was annexed 
in 1868 ; the town of Dorchester (named in 1630 in the order naming Boston), 
in 1870; the city of Charlestown (founded as a town July 4, 1629), the town of 
Brighton (incorporated 1807), and the town of West Roxbury (incorporated 1851), 
by one act, in 1874; ^"^ the town of Hyde Park (incorporated 1868), in 1912. 
These annexed municipalities retain their names with the term " District " added 
to each. Boston remained under town government, with a board of selectmen, 
till 1822. It was incorporated a city, February 23 of that year, after several 
ineffectual attempts to change the system. 




Old and New Boston 



BOSTON PROPER 

The terra "Boston Proper" is customarily used to designate the 
original city exclusive of the annexed parts ; but for the purposes 
of this Guide we comprehend in the term the entire municipality, as 



SECTIONS OF THE CITY 3 

distinguished from the allied cities and towns, closely identified with it 
in business and social relations, but yet independent political corpora- 
tions. Together with the municipality these allied cities and towns 
constitute what is colloquially known as Greater Boston. This metro- 
politan community is officially recognized at present only in one state 
District Commission with three Divisions, — Metropolitan Parks, Metro- 
politan Water, and Metropolitan Sewerage, — and in part in the Boston 
Postal District established by the Post Office Department. Metro- 
politan Parks Division includes Boston and thirty-eight cities and 
towns within a radius of fifteen miles from the City Hall, having a 
combined population approximating 1,642,000. The Metropolitan 
Water Division includes eighteen cities and towns ; the Metropolitan 
Sewerage Division, twenty-six ; and the lioston Postal District, twenty- 
three. The " Boston Basin," however, is regarded as constituting the 
true bounds of " Greater Boston." This includes a territory of some 
fifteen miles in width, lying between the bay on the east, the Blue Hills 
on the south, and the ridges of the Wellington Hills, sweeping from 
Waltham on the west around toward Cape Ann on the north. It 
embraces thirty-six cities and towns. The population of Boston alone 
approximates 750,000. 

The present city is divided by long-established custom into several 
distinct sections. These are : 

The Central District, or General Business Quarter 

The North End 

The West End 

The South End 

The Back Bay Quarter 

The Brighton District, on the west side 

The Roxbury District, on the south 

The West Roxbury District, on the southwest 

The Dorchester District, on the southeast 

The Charlestown District, on the north 

The Hyde Park District, on the south 

East Boston on its two islands, on the northeast 

South Boston projecting into the harbor, on the east 

The Business Quarters now occupy not only the Central District but 
most of the North End and parts of the West End and of the South 
End, and penetrate even the Back Bay Quarter, laid out in compara- 
tively modern times (1860-1886), where the bay had been, as the fairest 
residential quarter of the city and the place for its finest architectural 
monuments. 



BOSTON PROPER 










-^Vi?, 



I. The Central District 

The Central District (see Plates I and II) 
is of first interest to the visitor, for here are 
most of the older historic landmarks. This 
small quarter of the present city, together with 
the North End, embraces that part of the 
original peninsula to which the historic town — 
Colonial, Provincial, and Revolutionary Boston 
— was practically confined. The town 
of 1630 was begun along the irregular 
water front, the principal houses being 
placed round about the upper part of 
what is now State Street, modern Bos- 
ton's financial center, and on or near 
the neighboring Dock Square, back of 
the present Faneuil Hall, where was the 
first Town Dock, occupying nearly all of 
the present North Market Street, in the 
"Great Cove." The square originally 
at the head of State Street (first Market, 
then King Street), in the middle of which 
now stands the Old State House, was the first center of town life. At 
about this point, accordingly, our explorations naturally begin. 

State-Street square and the Old State House. Our starting place is 
the square at the head of State St., which the Old State House faces. 
This itself is one of the most notable historic spots in Boston. For 
the first quarter-century of Colony life the entire square, including the 
space occupied by the Old State House, was the public marketstead. 
Thursday was market day, — the day also of the "Thursday Lecture" 
by the ministers. Early (1648) semiannual fairs here, in June and 
October, were instituted, each holding a market for two or three days. 
Here were first inflicted the drastic punishments of offenders against 
the rigorous law\s, and here unorthodox literature was burned. 

The Stocks, the Whipping Post, and the Pillory were earliest placed 
here. When the town was a half-century old a Cage, for the confine- 
ment and exposure of violators of the rigid Sunday laws, was added to 
these penal instruments. In the Revolutionary period the Stocks stood 
near the northeast corner of the Old State House, with the Whipping 
Post hard by ; while the Pillory when used was set in the middle of the 
square between the present Congress Street (first Leverett's Lane) on 
the south side and Exchange Street (first Shrimpton's Lane, later Royal 



STATE STREET SQUARE 5 

Exchange Lane) on the north. The Whipping Post lingered here till 
the opening of the nineteenth century. 

This square continued to be the gathering place of the populace from 
the Colonial through the Province period on occasion of momentous 
events. It was the rendezvous of the people in the " bloodless revolu- 
tion " of April, 1689, when the government of Andros was overthrown. 
In the Stamp Act excitement of 1765 a stamp fixed upon a pole was 
solemnly brought here by a representative of the "Sons of Liberty" 
and fastened into the town Stocks, after which it was publicly burned 
by the "executioner." On the evening-of March 5, 1770, the so-called 
Boston Massacre, the fatal collision between the populace and the sol- 
diery, occurred here, the site being indicated by a ring in the street 
paving opposite the Exchange Street corner, northwest. 

On the south side of the original marketstead, by the present Devon- 
shire Street (first Pudding Lane), where now is the modern Brazer's 
Building (27 State Street), was the first meetinghouse, a rude structure 
of mud walls and thatched roof. This also served through its existence 
of eight years for Colonial purposes, as the carved inscription above the 
entrance of Brazer's Building relates : 

Site of the First Meetinghouse in Boston, built a.d. 1632. 
Preachers: John Wilson, John Eliot, John Cotton. 
Used before 1640 for town meetings and for 
sessions of the General Court of the Colony. 

At the upper end of this side of the marketstead, extending to Wash- 
ington Street (first The High Street), were the house and garden lot of 
Captain Robert Keayne, charter member and first commander of the first 
"Military Company of the Massachusetts" (founded 1637, chartered 
1638), from which developed the still flourishing "Ancient and Honor- 
able Artillery Company," the oldest military organization in the country. 
A century later, on the Washington Street corner, was Daniel Henchman's 
bookshop, in which Henry Knox, afterward the Revolutionary general 
and Washington's friend, learned his trade and ultimately succeeded to 
the business. When the British regulars were quartered on the town, 
in 1 768-1 770, the Main Guardhouse was on this side, directly opposite 
the south door of the Old State House, with the two fieldpieces pointed 
toward this entrance. 

On the west side of the marketstead, — the present Washington 
Street, — nearly opposite Captain Keayne's lot, was the second meet- 
inghouse, built in 1640, the site now occupied by a new bank building 
(209 Washington Street). This was used for all civic purposes, as well 
as religious, through eighteei;! years. 



CENTRAL DISTRICT 



It stood till 171 1, when it was destroyed in the "Great Fire" (the eighth 
" Great Fire " in the young town) of October that year, with one hundred other 
buildings in the neighborhood. Its successor, on the same spot, was the " Brick 
Meetinghouse" which remained for almost a century (see p. 79). 

North of the second meetinghouse site, where is now the Sears 
Building (199 Washington Street), was the house of John Leverett, after- 
ward Governor Leverett (1673). On the opposite corner, now covered 
by the Ames Building (Washington and Court streets), was the home- 
stead of Henry Dunster, first president of Harvard College. 

On the north side of the marketstead, near the east corner of the 
present Devonshire Street, was the glebe of the first minister of the 
first church, the Rev. John Wilson, with his house, barn, and two gar- 
dens. His name was perpetuated in 
IVi/son's Lane, which was cut through 
his garden plot in 1640, and which in 
turn was absorbed in the widened 
Devonshire Street. 

Looking again across to the south 
side, we see the site of Governor Win- 
throp's first house, covered by the ex- 
pansive Exchange Building (53 State 
Street). It stood on or close to the 
ground occupied by the entrance hall 
of the building. 

This was the governor's town house for 
thirteen years from the settlement. Thence 
he removed to his last Boston home, the 
mansion which stood next to the Old South 
Meetinghouse. The^rsi Gefiera/ Court — the incipient Legislature — ever held 
in America, October 19, 1630, may have sat in the governor's first house, the 
frame of which was brought here from Cambridge, where the governor first 
proposed building. 

At the corner of Kilby Street (first Mackerel Lane), where the 
Exchange Building ends, stood the Bunch-of-Grapes Tavern of Provin- 
cial times, with its sign of a gilded carved cluster of grapes, the pop- 
ular resort of the High Whigs in the prerevolutionary period. It 
dated from 171 1, and was preceded by a Colonial "ordinary," as tav- 
erns were then called, of 1640 date. In the street before the Bunch- 
of-Grapes' doors, the lion and unicorn, with other emblems of royalty 
and signs of Tories that had been torn from their places during the cele- 
bration of the news of the Declaration of Independence in July, 1776, 
were burned in a great bonfire. 




Doorway, Exchange Building 



STATE STREET SQUARE 



The Bunch-of-Grapes was a famous tavern of its time. In 1750 Captain 
Francis Goelet, from England, on a commercial visit to the town, recorded in 
his diary that it was " noted for the best punch house in Boston, resorted to by 
most of the gent" march's and masters vessels." After the British evacuation, 
when Washington spent ten days in Boston, he and his officers were entertained 
here at an " elegant dinner " as part of the official ceremonies of the occasion. 
The tavern was especially distinguished as the place where in March, 1786, the 
group of Continental army officers, 
under the inspiration of General Rufus 
Putnam of Rutland (cousin of General 
Israel P'utnam), organized the Ohio 
Cotnpany which settled Ohio, begin- 
ning at Marietta. 

State Street, when King Street, 
practically ended at Kilby Street on 
the south side and Merchants Row on 
the north, till the reclamation of the 
flats beyond, high-water mark being 
originally at these points. " Mackerel 
Lane " was a narrow passage by the 
shore till after the " Great Fire of 1 760," 
which destroyed much property in the 
vicinity. Then it was widened and 
named Kilby Street in recognition of 
the generous aid which the sufferers 
by the fire had received from Chris- 
topher Kilby, a wealthy Boston mer- 
chant, long resident in London as the 
agent for the town and colony, but 
at that time living in New York. 

Nearly opposite the Bunch-of- 
Grapes, at about the present No. 

66, stood the British Coffee House, where the British officers principally 
resorted. It was here in 1769 that James Otis was assaulted by John 
Robinson, one of the royal commissioners of customs, upon whom the 
fiery orator had passed some severe strictures, and thus through a deep 
cut on his head this brilliant intellect was shattered. 

At the east corner of Exchange Street was the Royal Customhouse, 
where the attack upon its sentinel by the little mob of men and boys, 
with a fusillade of street snow and ice, and taunting shouts, led to the 
Massacre of 1770, The opposite, or west, corner was occupied by the 
Royal Exchange Tavern, dating from the early eighteenth century, another 
resort of the British officers stationed in town. It was here in 1727 that 
occurred the altercation which resulted in the First Duel fought in 
Boston (on the Common), when Benjamin Woodbridge was killed by 




Old State House 



8 



CENTRAL DISTRICT 



Henry Phillips, both young men well connected with the " gentry " of 
the town, the latter related by marriage to Peter Faneuil, the giver 
of Faneuil Hall. Woodbridge's grave is in the Granary Burying Ground, 
and can be seen close by the sidewalk fence. 

It was this grave which inspired those tender passages in the " Autocrat of 
the Breakfast Table " describing " My First Walk with the Schoolmistress." 

The Old State House dates from 1 748. Its outer walls, however, are 
older, being those of its predecessor, the second Town and Province 
House, built in 17 12-1 7 13. That house was destroyed by fire, all but 
these walls, in 1 747, sharing very nearly the fate of its predecessor, the 
first Town House and colonial building, which went down in the " Great 
Fire " of 171 1 with the second meetinghouse and neighboring buildings 
and dwellings. It occupies the identical site in the middle of the market- 
stead chosen for the first Town House in 1657. It has served as Town 

House, Court House, 
Province Court House, 
State House, and City 
Hall. As the Province 
Court House, identified 
with the succession of 
prerevolutionary 
events in Boston, it has 
a special distinction 
among the historical 
l)uildings of the coun- 
try. After its abandon- 
ment for civic uses it 
suffered many vicissi- 
tudes and indignities, being ruthlessly refashioned, made over, and 
patched for business purposes, that the city which owns it might wrest 
the largest possible rentals from it; and in the year 1881 its removal 
was seriously threatened. Then, through the well-directed efforts of a 
number of worthy citizens, its preservation was secured, and in 1882 the 
historic structure was restored to much the appearance which it bore in 
Provincial days. Further restorations were made in 1 908-1 909. 

In both exterior and interior the original architecture is in large part 
reproduced. The balcony of the second story has the window of twisted 
crown glass, out of which have looked all the later royal governors of 
the Province and the early governors of the Commonwealth. The win- 
dows of the upper stories are modeled upon the small-paned windows 
of Colonial days. Within, the main halls have the same floor and 




C'lTNCiL Chamber, Old State House 



OLD STATE HOUSE 



ceilings, and on three sides the same walls that they had in 1748. The 
eastern room on the second floor, with its outlook down State Street, 
was the Council Chamber, where the royal governors and the council 
sat. The western room was the Court Chamber. Between the two 
was the Hall of the Representatives. The King's arms, which were in 
the Council Chamber before the Revolution, were removed by Loyalists 
and sent to St. John, New Brunswick, where they now decorate a church. 
The carved and gilded arms of the Colony (handiwork of a Boston arti- 
san, Moses Deshon), displayed above 
the door of the Representatives Hall 
after 1750, disappeared with the Revo- 
lution. The Wooden Codfish, " emblem 
of the staple of commodities of the 
Colony and the Province," which 
hung from the ceiling of this chamber 
through much of the Province period, 
is reproduced in the more artistic 
figure (embellished by Walter M. 
Brackett, the master painter of fish 
and game) that now hangs in the 
Representatives Hall of the present 
State House (see p. 43). 

The restored rooms above the base- 
ment are open for public exhibition, 
with the rare collection of antiquities 
relating to the early history of the 
Colony and Province, as well as the 

State and the Town, brought together Franklin Press, Old State House 
by the Bostonian Society, to whose 

control these rooms passed, through lease by the city, upon the resto- 
ration of the building. The collection embraces a rich variety of 
interesting relics : historical manuscripts and papers ; quaint paintings, 
engravings, and prints ; numerous portraits of old worthies ; and many 
photographs illustrating Boston in various periods. In the Council 
Chamber is the old table formerly used by the royal governors and 
councillors. 




The Bostonian Society, established here, was incorporated in 1881 "to pro- 
mote the study of the history of Boston, and the preservation of its antiquities"; 
and in it was merged the Antiquarian Club, organized in 1879 especially for the 
promotion of historical research, whose members had been most influential in the 
campaign for the preservation of this building. It has rendered excellent service 
in the identification of historic sites and in verifying historical records. 



lo DOWN STATE STREET 

Deep down below the basement of the building is now the State sta- 
tion of the Washington Street Tunnel, and also the State Street station 
of the East Boston Tunnel, which runs directly under the ancient struc- 
ture to Scollay Square, where it connects by passageways with the 
Subway. 

The first Town House, completed in 1659, was provided for by the will of 
Captain Kcayne^ the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company's chief founder 
(the longest will on record, comprising 158 folio pages in the testator's own 
hand, though disposing of only ^4000). Captain Keayne left ;i^30o for the pur- 
pose, and to this sum was added /^loo more, raised by subscription among the 
townspeople, and paid largely in provisions, merchandise, and labor. It was a 
small "comely building" of wood, set upon twenty pillars, overhanging the 
pillars " three feet all around," and topped by two tall slender turrets. The 
place inclosed by the pillars was a free public market, and an exchange, or " walk 
for the merchants." 

It contained the beginnings of ih^Jirst public library in America, for which 
provision was made in Captain Keayne's will. Portions of this library were 
saved from the fire of 171 1 which destroyed the building; but these probably 
perished later in the burning of the second Town and Province House. 

The second house, of brick, completed in 17 13, also had an open public 
exchange on the street floor. Surrounding it were thriving booksellers' shops, 
observing which Daniel Neal, visiting the town in 17 19, was moved to remark 
that " the Knowledge of Letters flourishes more here than in all the other Eng- 
lish plantations put together ; for in the city of New York there is but one book- 
seller's shop, and in the Plantations of Virginia, Maryland, Carolina, Barbadoes, 
and the Islands, none at all." So, it appears, thus early Boston was the " liter- 
ary center " of the country, a fact calculated to bring almost as great satisfaction 
to the complacent Bostonian as that later-day saying in the "Autocrat" (in 
which this stamp of Bostonian declines to recognize any satire), that "Boston 
State-House is the hub of the solar system." 

Down State Street. Following State Street to its end, we shall come 
upon Long "Wharf (originally Boston Pier, dating from 1710), where the 
formal landings of the royal governors were made, the main landing 
place of the British soldiers when they came, and the departing place 
at the Evacuation. At that time it was a long, narrow pier, extending 
out beyond the other wharves, the tide ebbing and flowing beneath the 
stores that lined it. Atlantic Avenue, the water-front thoroughfare 
that now crosses it, and on which the elevated railway runs, follows 
generally the line of the ancient Barricade, an early harbor defense 
erected in 1673 between the north and south outer points of the " Great 
Cove." It connected the North Battery, where is now Battery Wharf, 
and the South Battery, or " Boston Sconce," at the present Rowe's 
Wharf, where the steamer for Nantasket is taken. It was provided 



FANEUIL HALL AND ITS NEIGHBORHOOD 



1 1 



with openings to allow vessels to pass inside, and so came to be generally 
called the "Out Wharves." Its line is so designated on the early maps. 

In the short walk down State Street are passed in succession on either 
side of the way notable modern structures 
that have almost entirely replaced the varied 
architecture of different periods, which be- 
fore gave this street a peculiar distinction 
and a certain picturesqueness that is now 
wanting. The Exchange Building takes the 
place of the first Merchants' Exchange, a 
dignified building in its day (1842-1890), 
covering a very small part of the ground 
over which the present structure spreads. 
At the India Street corner, its massive 
granite-pillared front facing that street, and 
heavy granite columns surrounding it on all 
sides, stood, till 191 2, the United States 
Custom House (dating from 1847). ^^^ site 
was the head of Long Wharf, and the bow- 
sprits of vessels lying there, stretching across 
the street, almost touched its eastern side. 
Its successor preserves it in large part as 
the basis of the broad and lofty tower, the 
tallest building in New England and the 
only skyscraper in Boston. The apex of 
the tower is about 495 feet from the side- 
walk. In Custom House Street, only a 
block in length, a stone tablet marks the 
site of the Older Custom House, built in 1810, 
in which Bancroft, the historian, served as 
collector of the port in 1S38-1841, and which 
was the "darksome dungeon" where Haw 
thorne spent his two years as a customs 
officer, first as a measurer of salt and coal, 
then as a weigher and ganger. 

Faneuil Hall and its Neighborhood. From 
lower State Street we can pass to Faneuil 
Hall by way of Commercial Street and the 

long granite Quincy Market House (the central piece of the great work of 
the first mayor, Josiah Quincy, in 1825-1S26, in the construction of six 
new streets over a sweep of flats and docks) or we may go direct from 
the Old State House through Exchange Street, a walk of a few minutes. 




New United St.vies Clsiom 
House 



12 



FANEUIL HALL AND ITS NEIGHBORHOOD 



Faneuil Hall as now seen is the " Cradle of Liberty " of the Revolu- 
tionary period doubled in width and a story higher. The enlargement 
was made in 1S05, under the superintendence of Charles Bulfinch, the 
pioneer Boston architect of enduring fame, whose most characteristic 
work we shall see in the "Bulfinch Front " of the present State House. 
The hall was built in 1 762-1 763, upon the brick walls of the first 
Faneuil Hall, Peter Faneuil's gift to the town in 1742, which was 
consumed, except its walls, in a fire in January, 1762. Bulfinch, in his 
work of 1805, introduced the galleries resting on Doric columns, and 
the platform with its extended front, with various interior embellish- 
ments. In 1898 the entire building was reconstructed with fireproof 

material on the Bulfinch plan, 
iron, steel, and stone being sub- 
stituted for wood and combus- 
tible material. 

. Of the fine collection of por- 
traits on the walls many are 
copies, the originals having been 
placed in the Museum of Fine 
Arts for safe-keeping. The great 
historical painting at the back of 
the platform, " Webster's Reply 
to Hayne," by G. P. A. Healy, 
contains one hundred and thirty 
portraits of senators and other 
men of distinction at that time. 
The scene is the old Senate 
Chamber, now the apartment 
of the United States Supreme 
Court. The canvas measures 
sixteen by thirty feet. The por- 
trait of Peter Faneuil, on one 
side of this painting, is a copy 
by Colonel Henry Sargent, from a smaller portrait in the Art Museum, 
and was given to the city by Samuel Parkman, grandfather of the his- 
torian Parkman. It takes the place of a full-length portrait executed 
by order of the town in 1744, as a "testimony of respect" to the 
donor of the hall, which disappeared, and was probably destroyed, at 
the siege of Boston, — the fate also of portraits of George II, Colonel 
Isaac Barre, and Field Marshal Conway, the last two solicited by the 
town in gratitude for the defense of Americans on the floor of Parlia- 
ment. The full-length Washington, on the other side of the great 




Faneiil Hall 



ANCIENT AND HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY 13 

painting, is a Gilbert Stuart. It, also, was presented to the town by 
Samuel Parkman, in 1806. Of the portraits elsewhere hung, those of 
Warren, Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and John Quincy 
Adams are all Copleys. The General Harry Knox and the Commo- 
dore Preble are credited to Stuart. The Abraham Lincoln and Rufus 
Choate are by Ames, The "war governor," John A. Andrew, is by 
William M. Hunt. The others — Robert Treat Paine, Caleb Strong, 
Edward Everett, Admiral Winslow, Wendell Phillips, and Anson Bur- 
lingame^ — are by various American painters. The ornamental clock 
in the face of the gallery over the main entrance was a gift of Boston 
school children in 1850. The gilded spread eagle was originally on the 
fa9ade of the United States Bank which, erected in 1798, preceded 
the first Merchants' Exchange on State Street. The gilded grass- 
hopper on the cupola of the building, serving as a weather vane, is the 
reconstructed, or rejuvenated, original one of 1742, fashioned from 
sheet copper by the " cunning artificer," " Deacon " Shem Drowne, 
immortaUzed by Hawthorne in " Drowne's Wooden Image." 

The floors above the public hall have been occupied by the Ancient 
and Honorable Artillery Company for many years. Its armory is a rich 
museum of relics of Colonial, Provincial, and Revolutionary times, 
and is hospitably open to appreciative inspection. Among the treas- 
ured memorials here are the various banners of the company, the 
oldest being that carried in 1663. Eighteen silk flags reproduce colo- 
nial colors and their various successors. In the London room are 
mementos of the visit of a section of the company to England in the 
summer of 1896, as guests of the Honourable Artillery Company of 
London. On the walls of the main hall are portraits of one hundred 
and fourteen captains of the company. On the street floor of the 
building is the market, which has continued from its establishment 
with the first Faneuil Hall in 1742. John Smibert, the Scotch painter, 
long resident and celebrated in Boston from 1729, was the architect of 
the first building. 

Faneuil Hall was instituted primarily as a market house, the inclusion of a 
public town hall in the scheme being an afterthought of the donor. Peter 
Faneuil's offer to provide a suitable building at his own expense upon condition 
only that the town should legalize and maintain it, was at a time of controversy 
over the town market houses then existing. Three had been set up seven years 
before, one close to this site, in Dock Square ; one at the North End, in North 
Square ; the third at the then South End, by the soutli corner of the present 
Boylston and Washington streets. The Dock Square market was the principal 
one, and this had recently been demolished by a mob " disguised as clergymen." 
The c9n|;ei)t}on was over the market system. One faction demanded a return to 



14 FANEUIL HALL AND ITS NEIGHBORHOOD 

the method of service at the home of the townspeople, as before the setting up 
of these market houses ; the others insisted upon the fixed market-house system. 
So high did the feeUng run that Faneuil's gift was accepted by the town by the 
narrow margin of seven votes. 

The building was completed in September, 1742. It was only one hundred 
feet in length and forty feet wide. But it. was of brick, and substantial. The 
hall, calculated to hold only one thousand persons, was pronounced in the vote 
of the first town meeting held in it as "spacious and beautiful." In the same 
vote it was named Faneuil Hall, " to be at all times hereafter called and known 
by that name," in testimony of the town's gratitude to its giver and to perpetu- 
ate his memory. Then his full-length portrait was ordered for the hall ; and a 
year and a half later the Faneuil arms, " elegantly carved and gilt " by Moses 
Deshon, the same who later carved the Colony seal for the Town House (see 
p. 9), were added at the town's expense. 

The first public gathering in the hall, other than a town meeting, was, sin- 
gularly, to commemorate Faneuil, he having died suddenly, March 3, 1743, 
but a few months after the completion of the building. On this occasion the 
eulogist was John Lovell, master of the Latin School, who in the subsequent 
prerevolutionary controversies was a Loyalist, and at the Evacuation went off to 
Halifax. The Faneuils who succeeded Peter, his nephews, were also Loyalists, 
and left the country with the Evacuation. 

The second Faneuil Hall, embraced in the present structure, was built by the 
town, and the building fund was largely obtained through a lottery authorized by 
the General Court. The first public meeting in this hall was on March 14, 1763, 
when the patriot James Otis was the orator, and by him the hall was dedicated 
to the " Cause of Liberty." Then followed those town meetings of the Revolu- 
tionary period, debating the question of "justifiable resistance," from which the 
hall derived its sobriquet of the "Cradle of American Liberty." In 1766 on 
the news of the Stamp Act repeal the hall was illuminated. In 1768 one of the 
British regiments was quartered here for some weeks. In 1772 the Boston Com- 
mittee of Correspondence, " to state the rights of the colonists " to the world, 
was established here, on that motion of Samuel Adams which Bancroft says 
"contained the whole Revolution." In 1773 the "Little Senate," composed 
of the committees of the several towns, began their conferences with the 
"ever-vigilant" Boston committee, in the selectmen's room. During the siege 
the hall was transformed into a playhouse, under the patronage of a society 
of British officers and Tory ladies, when soldiers were the actors, and a 
local farce, " The Blockade of Boston," by General Burgoyne, was the chief 
attraction. 

Since the Revolution the hall has been the popular meeting place of citizens 
on important and grave occasions, and a host of national leaders, orators, and 
agitators have spoken from its historic rostrum. In 1826 Webster delivered here 
his memorable eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, in the presence of President 
John Quincy Adams and an audience of exceptional character. Here in 1837 
Wendell Phillips made his first antislavery speech; in 1845 Charles Sumner first 
publicly appeared in this cause; in 1846 the antislavery Vigilance Committee 
was formed at a meeting to denounce the return of a fugitive slave ; in 1854 the 



HANCOCK TAVERN 



15 



preconcerted signal was given, at a crowded meeting to protest against the 
rendition of Anthony Burns, for the bold but fruitless move on the Court House 
(see p. 19) to effect the escape of this fugitive slave. 

Faneuil Hall is protected by a provision of the city charter forbidding its sale 
or lease. It is never let for money, but is opened to the people upon the request 
of a certain number of citizens, who must agree to comply with the prescribed 
regulations. 

Faneuil Hall occupies made land close to the head of the Old 
Town Dock. The streets around the sides and back of the building 
constitute Faneuil Hall Square. From the south side of this square 
open§ Corn Court, which runs in irregular form to Merchants Row. 
This space was the Com Market of Colonial times. A landmark 
of a later day here, which remained till 1903, was an old inn 
long known as Hancock Tavern. While not so ancient as it was 
assumed to be, nor occupying, as 
alleged, the site of the first tavern 
in the town, it was an interesting 
landmark with rich associations. 
It became the Hancock Tavern when 
John Hancock was made the first 
governor of the Commonwealth, and 
the swing sign displaying his roughly 
painted portrait is still preserved. 
At other periods it was the Brazier 
Inn, kept by Madam Brazier, niece 
of Provincial Lieutenant Governor 
Spencer Phipps (1733), who made 
a specialty of a noonday punch foi 
its patrons. In this tavern lodged 
Talleyrand, when exiled from France, 
during his stay in Boston in 1795; 

also, two years later, Louis Philippe; and, in 1796, the exiled 
French priest, John Cheverus, who afterward became the first Roman 
Catholic bishop of Boston. An annex to a modern office building 
occupies its site. 

East of Corn Court, near the east end of Faneuil Hall, also on land 
reclaimed from the Town Dock, was John Hancock's Store, where he 
advertised for sale " English and India goods, also choice Newcastle 
Coals and Irish Butter, Cheap for Cash." West of Corn Court opens 
Cha7ige Alley (incongruously designated as " avenue "), a quaint, narrow 
foot passage to State Street, one of the earliest ways established in 
the town. It was sometime Flagg Alley, from being laid out with flag 




The a DAM:. S 1 ati k 



i6 CORNHILL AND ABOUT SCOLLAY SQUARE 

stones. Until the erection of the great financial buildings that now 
largely wall it in, the alley was picturesque with bustling little shops. 

On the west side of Faneuil Hall Square the triangle, covered with 
low, old buildings, marks the head of the ancient Town Dock. 

Old Dock Square makes into modern Adams Square (opened in 1879), 
near the middle of which stands the bronze statue of Samuel Adams, 
by Anne Whitney. This is a counterpart of the statue of the revolu- 
tionary leader in the Capitol at Washington. It portrays him as he is 
supposed to have appeared when before Lieutenant Governor Hutchin- 
son and the council, in the Council Chamber of the Old State House, 
as chairman of the committee of the town meeting the day after the 
Boston Massacre of 1770, and at the moment that, having delivered 
the people's demand for the instant removal of the British soldiers 
from the town, he stood with a resolute look awaiting Hutchinson's 
reply. 

The principal architectural feature of this open space is the stone 
Adams Square Station of the Subway. 

Comhill and about Scollay Square. From the west side of Adams 
Square we pass into Cornhill, early in its day a place of bookshops, 
and still occupied by several booksellers at long-established stands. 
It is the second Cornhill, the first having been the part of the present 
Washington Street between old Dock Square and School Street. Wash- 
ington Street originally ended at Dock Square north of the present 
Cornhill, and its extension to Haymarket Square (1872), where it now 
ends, greatly changed this part of the town and obliterated various 
landmarks. A little north of the present opening of Cornhill, lost in 
the Washington Street extension, was the site of the dwelling of Ben- 
jamin Edes, where, on the afternoon preceding the Boston Tea Party of 
December 16, 1773, a number of the leaders in that affair met and 
partook of punch from the punch bowl now possessed by the Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society. 

This Cornhill dates from 181 6, and was first called Cheapside, after 
the London fashion. Then for a while it was Market Street, being a 
new way to Faneuil Hall Market. From its northerly side was once an 
archway leading to Brattle Street and old Dock Square, w^hich also 
disappeared in the extension of Washington Street. Midway, at its 
curve toward Court Street, where it ends, it is crossed by Franklin 
Avenue (another short passageway, or alley, with this ambitious title), 
at the Court Street end of which was Edes & Gill's printing office, the 
principal rendezvous of the Tea-Party men, in a back room of which a 
number of them assumed their disguise. This was on the westerly 
corner of the " avenue," then Dasset Alley, and Court, then Queen, 



BRATTLE SQUARE CHURCH 17 

Street. Earlier, on the east corner, was the printing office of Benjamin 
Franklin's brother James, where the boy Franklin learned the printer^s 
trade as his brother's apprentice, and composed those ballads on " The 
Lighthouse Tragedy" asid on " Teach " (or " Blackbeard"), the pirate, 
which he peddled about the streets with a success that " flattered " 
his "vanity," though they were "wretched stuff," as he confesses in 
his Autobiography. Here James Franklin issued his New Englatid 
Cotirant, the fourth newspaper to appear in America, which Franklin 
managed during the month in which his brother was imprisoned for 
printing an article offensive to the Assembly, and himself " made 
bold to give our rulers some rubs in it " ; and which, after James's 
relea'Se, inhibited from publishing, was issued for a while under 
Benjamin's name. 

The north end of Franklin Avenue, from Cornhill by a short flight 
of steps, is at Brattle Street, a little way above the site of Murray's 
Barracks, on the opposite side, where were quartered the Twenty- 
Ninth, the regiment of the British force of 1 768-1 770 most obnoxious 
to the " Bostoneers," and where the fracas began that culminated in 
the Boston Massacre. The Quincy House, nearer the avenue's end, 
covers the site of i\\Q Jirst Quaker meetinghouse, built in 1697, the first 
brick meetinghouse in the town. Opposite the side of the Quincy 
House, facing Brattle Square, stood till 1871 the Brattle Square 
Church, which after the Revolution bore on its front a memento of 
the Siege, in the shape of a cannon ball, thrown there by an Amer- 
ican battery at Cambridge on the night of the Evacuation. This was 
the meetinghouse alluded to in Holmes's "A Rhymed Lesson," 

. . . that, mindful of the hour 
When Howe's artillery shook its half-built tower, 
Wears on its bosom, as a bride might do. 
The iron breastpin which the ' Rebels ' threw. 

A model of the church as it thus appeared is in the house of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society, where also the cannon ball is pre- 
served. The quoins of the structure, of Connecticut stone, were placed 
inside the tower of its successor on Commonwealth Avenue, Back Bay, 
now the church of the First Baptist Society. Though new, and "the 
pride of the town " at the time of the Revolution, having been conse- 
crated in 1773, i*^ ^'^s utilized as barracks for the British soldiers; and 
only the fact that the removal of the pillars which embellished its inte- 
rior would have endangered the structure, prevented its use during the 
Siege as a military riding school, like the Old South Meetinghouse 
(see p. 51). It was the church that Hancock, Bowdoin, and Warren 



l8 CORNIIILL AND ABOUT SCOLLAY SQUARE 



attended. Warren's house, from 1764, was near by on Hanover Street, 
on the site now covered by the American House. 

At the head of Comhill, in front of Scollay Square, stood the bronze 
statue of John Winthrop until its removal \tas necessitated by the 
East Boston Tunnel work below it in 1903. It was well worth a 

moment's study, though the 
constant tratific of the busy 
thoroughfare made its near 
neighborhood perilous. The 
Colonial governor, clad in 
the picturesque costume of 
the period, is represented as 
stepping from a gang board 
to the shore. In his right 
hand he holds the charter 
of the Colony by its great 
seal ; in his left the Bible. 
Behind the figure appears 
the base of a newly hewn 
forest tree, with a rope at- 
tached, significant of the fas- 
tening of a boat. The statue 
is the work of Richard S. 
Greenough and is a copy of 
the marble one in the Capitol 
at Washington. It was cast in 
Rome. It was first erected 
in iSSo, on the 250th anni- 
versary of the settlement of 
Boston. - It now stands on 
Marlborough Street, beside 
the First Church (see p. 79). 
About where the Scollay 
Square Station stands, or a little north of its site, was the first 
Free Writing School, set up in 1683-1684. This was the second 
school in the town, the first being on School Street, as we shall 
presently see. It continued in use till after the Revolution (or 
about 1793), latterly known as the Central Reading and Writing 
School. 

Looking down Coiu-t Street eastward, we have in near view the 
handsome pillared front of the City Hall Annex. It is connected at the 
rear with the City Hall, which faces School Street (see page 48). 




Court Street 



COLONIAL PRISON 



19 







City Ilall Annex occupies the site of the Old Court House, which was 
built, in 1836, of Quincy granite, from the design of Solomon Willard, the 
architect of Bunker Hill Aloniimeiit. Ponderous fluted columns, eight in 
all, each weighing twenty-five tons, embellished its front and also, origi- 
nally, its rear. The first two were brought over the roads from Quincy 
by sixty-five yoke of oxen and ten horses, making a great street show. 
This was the center of scenes attending the fugitive slave cases. 

Here occurred first, in February, 1851, the rescue of Shadrach, who had been 
confined in the United States court room awaiting action upon a process for his 
rendition. Six weeks later came the Thomas 
Sims affair, when, to prevent the rescue of this 
slave, the building was guarded and surrounded 
with chains breast high, under which the judges 
and all others having business within were 
obliged to stoop to reach the doors. Finally, 
in May, 1854, occurred the Anthony Burns riot, 
on the evening of the 26th, with the failure of 
the rescue planned by a number of the anti- 
slavery "Vigilance Committee," when, in the 
assault made at the entrance on the west side 
of the building, one of the marshal's deputies 
was killed. It was after this affair that indict- 
ments were brought against Theodore Parker, 
Wendell Phillips, Thomas Wentworth Iliggin- 
son, and several others, for "obstructing the 
process of the United States." For their 
defense a formidable array of counsel appeared 
here, but the indictment was quashed. 

On this same spot was the Colonial 
prison, its outer walls of stone three feet 
thick, with unglazed iron-barred windows, 
stout oaken doors covered with iron, hard 

cells, and gloomy passages, where were incarcerated the Quakers and, 
later, victims of the witchcraft delusion. Plere also, after the over- 
throw of Andros in 1689, Ratcliffe, the rector of the first Episcopal 
church, which Andros so fostered (see King's Chapel, p. 24), was 
confined with his leading parishioners for nine months, till sent to 
England by royal command. Another distinguished prisoner here, 
in 1699, was the piratical Captain Kidd. It was this prison that 
Hawthorne fancifully describes in "The Scarlet Letter." The prison 
was first placed here in 1642, and gave to the street the name of Prison 
Lane, which it bore through the seventeenth century. Then it became 
Queen Street, and Court Street after the Revolution. 




The Winthrop Statch 



20 TREMONT STREET 

Looking westward up Court Street to the upper side, called Tremont 
Row, we may imagine the site of Governor John Endicott's house, where 
he lived after his removal from Salem to Boston, and where, in 
1661, Samuel Shattuck, bearing the order of the King releasing the 
imprisoned Quakers, had audience with him, — the event upon which 
Whittier's " The King's Missive " is founded. This house is variously 
placed by local authorities on Tremont Row, between Tremont Street 
and Howard Street, but the best evidence appears to point to a situ- 
ation toward the Howard Street end. 

Tremont Street and King's Chapel. Now we take Tremont Street. 
From the west side, at its beginning, opens the short way up to Peni- 
berton Square, at the head of which we see the fa9ade of the present 
County Court House (built 1SS7-1S93). This long granite structure in the 
German Renaissance style of architecture was designed by George A. 
Clough. Its plan is on the system of open courtyards : four are in the 
area of the general block. It covers 65,300 feet of land. The feature 
of the interior is the great hall, broad and lofty, a flight of steps ascend- 
ing to it from the front entrance, and other flights ascending from it to 
the rear exit on So7nerset Street. Upon the faces of the cornices in the 
vestibule at the main entrance are statuesque bas-reliefs of Law, Justice, 
Wisdom, Innocence, and Guilt. On one side of the hall is the bronze 
statue of Rufus Choate, the great lawyer of his day. This is by Daniel 
C. French. It was placed in 1898. It was a gift to the city, provided 
for in the will of George B. Hyde, a Boston pubHc-school master. The 
donor was sometime master of the Dwight School for boys, and after- 
ward principal of the Everett School for girls. 

Pemberton Square marks the second highest peak of Beacon Hill. 
This peak at first received the name of Cotton Hill, from the Rev. John 
Cotton, the early minister of the First Church, whose house was on its 
slope facing Tremont Street. The Cotton estate originally spread over 
this peak, extending back across Somerset Street to about the middle 
of Ashburton Place in the rear of the Court House. 

The peak rose originally in irregular heights, the loftiest bluff being 
at the southerly end of Pemberton Square, or on the west side of 
Tremont Street about opposite the gate of King's Chapel Burying 
Ground. Against its slopes were early favorite places for house sites. 

John Cotton's house was set up in 1633, soon after his arrival in the 
Griffin. It stood a little south of the entrance to Pemberton Square. 
Next above, or adjoining it, was Sir Harry Vane's house. This was built 
by the young statesman a few months after his arrival (October, 1635), 
he having at first been the minister's guest. It was Vane's home when 
he was governor of the Colony in 1636-1637. Later the Cotton house 



KING'S CHAPEL BURYING GROUND 



21 



came into possession of John Hull, the " mint master," who made the 
pine-tree shillings, the first New England money. In course of time 
it fell to Chief Justice Samuel Sewall (one of the witchcraft judges at 
Salem in 1692), the diarist of early Boston, through his marriage with 
the " mint master's " daughter Hannah, whose wedding dowry, tradition 
tells, was her weight in the pine-tree shilUngs, 

About on the site now occupied by the showy Beacon Theater, but 
back from the street, was Richard Bellingham's stone house, in which he 
lived through his several terms as governor and till his death in 1672. 
He was dwelling here 
when^ in 1 641, he scan- 
dalized his brethren by 
the manner of his mar- 
riage to Penelope Pel- 
ham, his second wife, 
without " publishing " 
the marriage intention, 
and especially by per 
forming the marriage 
ceremony himself, beini; 
a magistrate, as Win 
throp relates in pictur- 
esque detail in his 
journal. 

In the next century 
the grand Faneuil man- 
sion and terraced 
gardens were here. 
This was the estate tliat Peter Faneuil inherited in 1737 and was 
occupying when he built Faneuil Hall. It was maintained in all its 
elegance by its several owners till some years after the Revolution. 
At that time it was confiscated, its owner being a Royalist, — IVilliam 
Vassal, uncle of the Colonel John Vassal w^ho built the Cambridge 
mansion now treasured as the Longfellow house. Early in the nine- 
teenth century it was joined to the Gardner Greene estate, the finest 
in the town. 

The peak was finally cut down in the thirties, and Pemberton Square was 
then laid out through the Greene estate as a place of genteel residences in 
blocks, which character it sustained till the late eighteen sixties. 

On the east side the Boston Museum, razed in 1903 to make way for the 
modern Kimball Building here, long stood the oldest playhouse of the city. 




Old Boston Museum 



22 KING'S CHAPEL BURYING GROUND 

For more than half a century it was a familiar landmark. At first 
the museum proper, with its halls of marvelous curiosities, was the 
chief feature of the institution, the performances being subordinate 
to these attractions, and the theater being called " the lecture hall," to 
quiet the consciences of its patrons, who shied from the openly pro- 
claimed playhouse. William Warren, the "prince of comedians," as 
Bostonians delighted in calling him, was identified with the Museum for 
forty years. Here Edwin Booth made his first appearance on any stage. 

From King's Chapel to Park Street Church. King's Chapel Burying 
Ground, adjoining the old stone church, is very nearly as ancient as the 
town of Boston. The exact date of its establishment is not known, 
but it was probably soon after the beginning of the settlement, for this 
record appears in W^inthrop's journal: " Capt. Welden, a hopeful young 
gent, & an experienced soldier, dyed at Charlestowne of a consumption, 
and was buryed at Boston wth a military funeral." And Dudley wrote 
that the young man was " buryed as a souldier with three volleys of 
shott." The earliest interment of record here was that of Governor 
Winthrop in 1649. It is believed that his third wife, Margaret Winthrop, 
who followed him to New England the year after he came out and who 
died two years before him, was also buried here. 

In the same tomb are the ashes of other distinguished Winthrops, — 
the Massachusetts governor's eldest son and grandsons : John Win- 
throp, Jr., the governor of the Connecticut Colony, who died in 1676, 
and John Jr.'s two sons, Fitz John Winthrop, governor of the United 
Colonies of Connecticut (died 1707), and Wait Still Winthrop, chief 
justice of Massachusetts and sometime major general of the forces of 
the Colony (died 1717). A second Winthrop tomb contains the dust 
of Professor John Winthrop of Harvard College, the friend of Franklin 
and correspondent of John Adams (died in 1779). 

The first Winthrop tomb is seen not far from the middle of the 
ground. Beside it is the tomb of Elder Thomas Oliver of the First 
Church, which subsequently became the property of the church ; and 
close to this a horizontal tablet informs that " here lyes intombed the 
bodyes of ye famous reverend and learned pastors of the First Church 
of Christ in Boston, viz:" John Cotton, aged 67 years, died 1652; John 
Davenport, 72 years, died 1670; John Oxenbridge, aged 66 years, died 
1674; and Thomas Bridge, aged 58 years, died 171 5. Near by are 
the modest gravestones of Sarah, "the widow of the beloved John 
Cotton and excellent Richard Mather," and of Elizabeth, widow of 
John Davenport. 

In the middle of the ground is the marble monument to Colonel 
Thomas Dawes, a leading Boston mechanic of his day, who died in 



KING'S CHAPEL 23 

1809, and near it the tomb of Governor John Leverett. A few steps 
distant is that of the Boston branch of the Plymouth Colony Winslow 
family. Here are the ashes of John Winslow, brother of Governor 
Edward Winslow, with those of the former's wife, who was Mary Chilton, 
one of the Mayflower passengers, heroine of the popular but apoc- 
ryphal tale of the first woman to spring ashore from the Pilgrim ship. 
In a cluster of ancient tombs are those of Jacob Sheafe, an opulent 
merchant of Colony times, in which was afterward buried the Rev. 
Thomas Thacher, first pastor of the Old South Church (died 1678), 
who married Sheaf e's widow; and of Thomas Brattle (died 1683), said 
probably to have been the wealthiest merchant of his day, whose son 
Thomas became a treasurer and benefactor of Harvard College. A 
tomb of especial interest in this quarter is the Benjamin Church 
tomb, for herein w'ere deposited the remains of Lady Andros, the wife 
of Governor Andros, who died in February, 1688, and of whose funeral 
in the nighttime from the Old South Meetinghouse Sewall gives a 
quaint account in his diary. Other tombs of note are those of Major 
Thomas Savage, one of the commanders in King Phihp's War, and 
Judge Oliver Wendell, grandfather of Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

Many of the old tombstones here have been shifted from their proper 
places and made to serve as edge stones along the paths beyond the 
principal gateway. This vandalism was the performance years ago of 
a superintendent of burials who was possessed with an evil " eye for 
symmetry." 

King's Chapel in part occupies the upper end of this burying ground, 
which extended originally to School Street, the land having been taken 
by Governor Andros in 1688 for the first Episcopal church, no Puritan 
landholder being found who would sell for such a purpose. This 
building dates from 1754 and is the second King's Chapel on the spot. 
Its aspect has been little changed, beyond the enrichment of the interior, 
from Province days. The low solid edifice of dark stone, with its heavy 
square tower surrounded by wooden Ionic columns, stands as it appeared 
when it was the official church of the royal governors. The stone of 
which it is constructed came from Quincy (then Braintree), where it was 
taken from the surface, there being then no quarries. It was built so 
as to inclose the first chapel, in which services were held for the greater 
part of the time consumed in the slow work, — about five years. Peter 
Harrison, an Englishman who came out in 1729 in the train of Dean 
Berkeley to have part in the dean's projected but never established 
university, was the architect. His model was the familiar English 
church of the eighteenth century; so the visitor sees in the fashion 
of the interior, its rows of columns supporting the ceiling, the antique 



24 



KING'S CHAPEL 



pulpit and reading desk, the mural tablets and the sculptured monu- 
ments that line the walls, a pleasant likeness to an old London church. 
Memorials of the first chapel are preserved in the chancel. The com- 
munion table of 1688 is still in use. Several of the mural tablets are 
of the Provincial period. On the organ are in their ancient places the 
gilt miters and crown, which were removed at the Revolution and 
deposited in a place of safety. Among the tablets on the northern 
wall is one to the memory of Oliver Wendell Holmes. This was placed 
in the autumn of 1895. The inscription was composed by ex-President 
Eliot of Harvard University. 

At the Evacuation the venerable rector, Mr. Caner, fled with the Loyalists of 
his parish, taking off with him to Halifax the church registers, plate, and vest- 
ments, but most of these were in later years 
restored. 

The last Loyalist service before the Evacua- 
tion was on the preceding Sunday. In less than 
a month after the Evacuation the chapel was 
reopened for the obsequies of General Joseph 
Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, and on 
that occasion the orator, Perez 





Morton, advocated independ- 
ence. For more than two years 
thereafter the chapel was closed. 
Then it was opened to the Old 
South congregation, and it was 
used by the latter for nearly 
five years, when their meeting- 
King's Chapel house was restored. In 1782 

the renmant of the society 
renewed their services with the Rev. James Freeman as " reader." In 1 787 
Mr. Freeman was ordained as rector, and at that time this first Episcopal church 
in New England became the first Unitarian church in America. A bust of Mr. 
Freeman is among the mural monuments. 

The original King's Chapel of 1688 was a small wooden structure, built at a 
cost of ;^284 16 J-, contributed by persons throughout the Colony, with subscrip- 
tions from Andros and other English officers. For more than two years before 
its erection the Episcopal congregation had joint occupancy of the Old South 
Church with its proper owners, by order of Governor Andros against their 
earnest and constant protest. The church organization was formed in 1686, 
under the aggressive leadership of Edward Randolph, with the Rev. Robert Rat- 
cliffe as rector, who had come from England commissioned to establish the 
Church of England in the Colony. The use of any of the Congregational meet- 
inghouses being denied them, the projectors of the church founded it in the 
"Ubrary room" of the Town House. This was their place of meeting till 
Andros ordered the Old South opened to them. When Andros was overthrown 



TREMONT TEMPLE 25 

the rector and his leading parishioners were imprisoned till their return to Eng- 
land (see p. 19). The remnant of the congregation resumed services in the 
chapel, which was finished a few months after Andros's departure. 

In 1 7 10 the chapel was enlarged to twice its size. Then the exterior was 
embellished with a tower surmounted by a tall mast half-way up which was a 
large gilt crown and at the top a weathercock. Within the enlarged chapel the 
governor's pew, raised on a dais higher by two steps than the others, hung with 
crimson curtains and surmounted by the royal crown, was opposite the pulpit, 
which itself stood on the north side at about the center. Near the governor's 
pew was another reserved for officers of the British army and navy. Displayed 
along the walls and suspended from the pillars were the escutcheons and coats of 
arms of the king. Sir Edmund Andros, Governors Dudley, Shute, Burnet, Belcher, 
and Shirley, and other persons of distinction. At the east end was " the altar 
piece, whereon was the Glory painted, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's 
Prayer, the Creed, and some texts of Scripture." The communion plate was a 
royal gift. 

Less than a block beyond King's Chapel, on the opposite side of 
Tremont Street, we come to the Granary Burying (Ground, established 
only about thirty years after the Chapel Burying Ground (in 1660), and 
of greater historic interest, perhaps, because of the more numerous 
memorials here. 

On the short walk from the Chapel we pass the site of the birthplace 
of Edward E. Hale, covered by the upper part of the Parker House. This 
hotel also covers, on its School Street side, the site of the home of Oliver 
Wendell, the maternal grandfather of Oliver Wendell Plolmes, for whom 
he was named. On Bosworth Street, the first passage opening from 
Tremont Street, opposite the burying ground, — a courtlike street end- 
ing with stone steps which lead down to a more ancient cross street, — 
was Doctor Holmes's home for eighteen years from 1841, the "house at 
the left hand next the farther corner," which he describes in " The 
Autocrat." 

The Tremont Temple, next above the Parker House, is the building 
of the Union Temple (Baptist) Church, founded in 1839, a free church 
from its beginning. It is the fourth temple on this site, each of the 
previous ones having been destroyed by fire. The first one was a 
theater remodeled in 1843. The playhouse was the Tremont 
Theater, first opened in 1835, one of the most interesting of its 
class and time. 

It was here that Charlotte Cushman made her debut, in April, 1835 ; that 
Fanny Kemble first appeared before a Boston audience ; that operas were first 
produced in Boston. 

In the large public hall of the second Tremont Temple Charles Dickens gave 
his readings during his last visit to America, in 1868. 



26 



GRANARY BURYING GROUND 



The large Tremont Building opposite occupies the site of the Tre- 
mont House, a famous inn through its career of more than sixty years 
from 1829, of which Dickens wrote, "it has more galleries, colon- 
nades, piazzas, and passages than I can remember, or the reader would 
believe." Preceding the inn, fine mansion houses with gardens were 
here, one of them being the estate of Thofnas Handasyd Perkins, a 
genuine "solid man of Boston," a benefactor of the Boston Athenaeum 
and of other Boston institutions. 

On the gates of the Granary Burying Ground, 
set in their high ivy-mantled stone frame, are 
tablets inscribed with the names of many of the 
notables buried here. They include governors of 
various periods, — Richard Bellingham, William 
Dummer, James Bowdoin, Increase Sumner, 
James Sullivan, and Christopher Gore ; signers 
of the Declaration of Independence, — John 
Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Robert Treat 
Paine ; ministers, — John Baily (of the First 
Church), Samuel Willard (of the Old South 
Church), Jeremy Belknap (founder of the Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society), and John Lathrop 
(of the Second Church); Chief Justice Samuel 
Sewall ; Peter Faneuil ; Paul Revere ; Josiah 
Franklin and wife, parents of Benjamin Franklin ; 
Thomas Cushing, lieutenant 
governor, 1 780-1 7S8; John 
Phillips, first mayor of Bos- 
ton, and father of Wendell 
Phillips; and the victims of 
the Boston Massacre of 1770. 
Besides these, others of 
like distinction are entombed 
here, among them James 
Otis ; the Rev. Thomas Prince, 
the learned annalist ; the Rev. 
Pierre Daille, minister of the 
French church formed by 
the Huguenots who came to 
Boston after the revocation 
of the Edict of Nantes; 
Edward Rawson, secretaiy of 
the Colony; Josiah Willard, Granary Burying Ground 





GRANARY BURYING GROUND 27 

secretary of the Province; and John Hull, the "mint master " of 1652. 
General Joseph Warren's tomb was here (the Minot tomb, adjoining 
that of Hancock) from after the obsequies in King's Chapel in 1776 
till 1825. Then his remains were removed to the Warren tomb under 
St. Paul's Church. In 1855 they were again removed, being finally 
deposited in the family vault in Forest Plills Cemetery, Roxbury Dis- 
trict. Wendell Phillips (died 1884) was also temporarily buried here, 
beside the tomb of his father, at the right of the entrance gate. After 
the death of his widow, two years later, his remains were removed to 
Milton and placed by her side. 

The most conspicuous monuments here, all in view from the side- 
walk, are the bowlders marking the tombs of Samuel Adams and 
James Otis, the former near the fence, north of the entrance gate, 
the latter, also near the fence, south of the gate; the monument to 
Benjamin Franklin's parents, in the middle of the yard; and the John 
Hancock monument, in the southwestern corner. The inscriptions on 
the Adams and Otis bowlders give these records : 

Here lies buried 

Samuel Adams 

Signer of the Declaration of Independence 

Governor of this Commonwealth 

A leader of men and an ardent patriot 

Born 1722 Died 1803 




Here lies buried 
James Otis 

Orator and Patriot of the Revolution n- V r^' ^ma-mi^mrss^dnmiT'rm,^^ ,-^!'-. 

Famous for his argument fcof '^lH \i f " ' 

against Writs of Assistance /^S^fflft .WV'-^ " ? 

Born 1725 Died 1783 





Adams's grave is in the Checkley tomb, which adjoins the sidewalk ; 
Otis's is in the Cunningham tomb, bearing now the name of George 
Longley. The bowlders were placed by the Massachusetts Society of 
the Sons of the Revolution in 1898, as the inscriptions show. 

The epitaph on the Franklin monument was composed by Franklin, 
and first appeared on a marble stone which he caused to be placed here. 
The granite obelisk was provided by a number of citizens in 1827, when 
the stone had become decayed, and the inscription was reproduced on 
the bronze tablet set in its face : 



28 



GRANARY BURYING GROUND 




Josiah Franklin 

and 

Abiah his wife, 

lie here interred. 

They lived lovingly together in wedlock 

fifty-five years. 

Without any estate, or any gainful employment, 

By constant labor and industry, 

with God's blessing, 
They maintained a large family 

comfortably, 

and brought up thirteen children 

and seven grandchildren 

reputably. 

From this instance, reader, 

Be encouraged to diligence in thy calling 

And distrust not Providence. 

He was a pious and prudent man ; 

She, a discreet and virtuous woman. 

Their youngest son, 

In filial regard to their memory 

Places this stone 

-v^' ■ * J. F. born 1655, died 1744, ^tat 89. 

A. F. born 1667, died 1752, 85. 

The Hancock monument is a steel shaft, erected in 1895 close by the 
Hancock tomb, set against the wall of one of the buildings which back 
on the yard. It is simply inscribed : 

Obsta Principiis 
This memorial erected 
A.D. MDCCCXCV. By the Com- 
monwealth of Massachv- 
setts to mark the grave of 
John Hancock. 

Nearby the Hancock tomb is a dilapidated slate slab with the inscrip- 
tion, " Frank, servant of John Hancock Esq'r, lies interred here, who 
died 23d Jan'ry 1771, aetat 38." 

The graves of the victims of the Boston Massacre are unmarked. For- 
merly a beautiful larch tree grew over the spot. It is said to be twenty feet 
back from the sidewalk fence and sixty feet south of the Tremont Building. 

The grave of Benjamin Woodbridge, the young victim of the duel 
on the Common in 1728, is midway betvs^een the gate and Park Street 
Church, near the fence. The inscription on the upright stone informs 
us that he was " a son of the Honourable Dudley Woodbridge Esq'r," 
and " dec'd July ye 3d, in ye 20th year of his age " (see p. 8). 



PARK STREET CHURCH 



29 



One stone that many seek here, and some have seemed to identify, 
is not to be found, if we are to accept the word of an authoritative 
antiquary. This is the tablet marking the 
grave of " Mother Goose." According to 
the late William H. Whitmore, who, in his 
" Genesis of a Boston Myth," marshaled strong 
evidence to sustain his assertion, " Mother 
Goose" was not Elizabeth Vergoose, the 
worthy seventeenth-century matron, as has 
been alleged; nor was "Mother Goose" a 
nam-e that originated in Boston. 

In this yard, as in King's Chapel Burying 
Ground, many of the old stones were years ago 
ruthlessly shifted from the graves to which 
they belonged, which caused the remark of 
Dr. Holmes that " Epitaphs were never famous 
for truth, but the old reproach of ' Here lies ' 
never had such a wholesale illustration as 
in these outraged burial places, where the 
stone does lie above and the bones do not 
lie beneath." 

Park Street Church, with its graceful spire, picturesquely finishing the 
corner of Tremont and Park streets, dates from 1809. It is the best 
example remaining in the city of the early nineteenth-century ecclesias- 
tical architecture. It was designed by an English 
aichitect, Peter Banner, but the Ionic and Corin- 
thian capitals of the steeple were the 
. 1 work of the Bostonian Solomon Willard. 




Hancock Monument, 
Granary Burying Ground 







It was the first Trinitarian church estab- 
lished after the invasion of Unitarianism in 
the Puritan churches, and the fervor with 
which the unadulterated orthodox doctrine 
was preached by its earlier ministers made its 
pulpit famous, and led the unrighteous to 
bestow upon the point which it faces the title 
of " Brimstone Corner." Its history is notable. 
It is marked as the place in which " America " 
was first publicly sung. The hymn was written 
by the Rev. Samuel F. Smith to fit some music 
for Dr. Lowell Mason, music master of Boston, 
and was given for the first time at a children's 
celebration here on July 4, 1832. Here on a preceding 4th of July (1829), 
William Lloyd Garrison, then not yet twenty-four years old, gave his first public 




30 



PARK STREET CHURCH 



address in Boston against slavery. In 1849 Charles Sumner gave his great 
address on " The War System of Nations,-' at the annual convention of the 
American Peace Society, which that year began to hold its sessions here. This 
remained the Peace Society's regular place of meet- ^ 

ing for a long period. The patriotic sermons of "^ 

the Civil War preached here by Dr. A. L. Stone 




Park Street Church 

(minister of the church from 1849 to 1866) have 
been called "a part of Boston history." 

This church occupies the site of the town 
granary, a grain house (first set up on the 
Common, opposite, in 1737) from which grain 
was sold to the needy by the town's agents. 
It was from its proximity to the granary that 
the old burj'ing ground got its name. 

Looking up Hamilton Place, opposite Park 
Street Church, we see the side of the old 
Music Hall, now a theater. 
This is a building of pleasant 
memories. It was erected in 
1852, projected chiefly by the 
Harvard Musical Association, 
then the representative of 
classical orchestral music in Boston. Nearly thirty years later (1881) the 
Boston Symphony Orchestra began its career here, under the generous 
patronage of Henry L. Higginson. Once the hall had in its " great 



■■■" I ' ■ 




BOSTON COMMON AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 31 

organ" one of the largest and finest instruments in the world, but this 
was permitted to be sold and removed at a time when the hall was 
undergoing alterations. For some years, during the latter part of his life, 
Music Hall was Theodore Parker's pulpit ; and at a later period that of 
W. IP. IP. Murray, after he had been a pastor of Park Street Church. 

Boston Common and its surroundings. Situated in the heart of the 
city, the Common is unique among municipal public grounds. Its 
existence and preservation are due to the wise forethought of the first 
settlers of the town. 



Its integrity rests primarily on a town order passed in 1640, reserving it as 
open' ground, or common field. This was strengthened by a clause in the city 
charter forbidding its 
sale or lease. Subse- 
quent acts prohibit the 
laying out of any high- 
way or street railway 
upon or through it, or 
the taking of any part 
of it for widening or 
altering any street,with- 
out the consent of the 
citizens. 




Beacon Street IMall 



It dates actually 
from 1634, four years 
after the settlement 

of the town, when it was laid out as " a place for a trayning field " and for 
" the feeding of cattell." A training field in part it has remained to the 
present day, and cattle did not cease to graze on it till the thirties of the 
nineteenth century. Originally it was larger than it is now, extending 
to the Tremont Building on Tremont and Beacon streets in one direc- 
tion, and across Tremont Street to West and Mason streets in another. 
The taking from the north end for the Granary Burying Ground in 1660 
was its earliest curtailment. On the west side, where is now Charles 
Street, it at first met the Back Bay, the waters of which came up to 
this line. Its present extent is 48! acres, exclusive of the old burying 
ground on part of its south or Boylston Street side. Its surface has 
been much made over, but without obliterating altogether its old-time 
contour. The broad tree-fined malls which traverse it display the taste 
and large-mindedness of the later town and earlier city fathers. Many 
majestic elms which once embellished the place have been destroyed by 
time and changes. The building of the Subway beneath the Tremont 
Street mall removed the oldest row and some of the finest of them; 



32 



BOSTON COMMON AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 



i 



but there yet remain numerous stalwart specimens, with other varieties 
of trees, shading and beautifying the several paths. 

Of the monuments here the Army and Navy Monument, the granite 
Doric column of which reaches above the trees, is most conspicuous. 
This occupies the highest elevation in the inclosure, the point where 

the British artillery were stationed during 
the Siege. It is the work of Martin Mil- 
more, and was erected in 1877. The statues 
on the projecting pedestals of the plinth 
represent the Soldier, the Sailor, the Muse 
of History, and Peace. The bas-reliefs 
between them depict The Departure of 
the Regiment, The Sanitary Commission, 
The Achievements of the Navy, and The 
Return from the War and Surrender of 
the Battle Flags to the Governor. The 
figures on these bas-reliefs are mostly por- 
traits of soldiers or citizens prominent in 
the Civil War period. The sculptured 
figures at the base of the shaft typify 
the North, South, East, and West. The 
crowning statue represents the " Genius of 
America." The monument bears this 
inscription, written by President Eliot of 
Harvard University: To the men of Bosto7i 
who died for their country on land and sea 
in the war which kept the Uniott whole, 
destroyed slavery and maintained the Co7i- 
stitiition, the grateful city has built this 
monufnent that their example may speak to 
co?n ing generations. 
At the foot of this hill, on the east side, stood the "Great Elm" 
till its fall in a windstorm in 1S76, supposed to have been old when the 
town was settled, and a scene of executions in early Colony days, — per- 
haps that of Anne Hibbens for "witchcraft" in 1656. An iron tablet 
marks the spot. On a northerly side path is another elm grown from a 
shoot of it. Not far from the "Great Elm" tradition says the Quakers 
were executed ; but the learned antiquary, M. J. Canavan, fixes their gal- 
lows at the South End. Beneath its branches is supposed to have taken 
place the fatal duel in which young Woodbridge was slain (see p. 7). 

Near by Ues the historic " Frog Pond," so called, as the town wits 
have it, because it was never known to harbor a frog. The real frog 




Soldiers' Monument 



PARADE GROUND 33 

pond was the Horse or Cow Pond, a shallow pool where the cows 
slaked their thirst or cooled their legs, which lay in the lowlands about 
the present band stand. The present pond is the survivor of three 
marshy bogs originally wuthin the Common, It was the scene of the 
formal introduction of the public water system in 1848, for which cele- 
bration James Russell Lowell wrote his Ode on Water. 

West of the Frog Pond lies the Parade Ground, which represents, in 
small compass, the original training field of the Colonial trainbands. It 
has been the chief mustering place in war times from Provincial to 
modern days. In 1775, when the Common was the British camp, the 
force for Bunker Hill was arrayed here before crossing the river to 
Charlestown. In the preceding April the detachment that moved on 
Lexington and Concord started from near it, taking boats on the bay. 
Now it is the place where the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- 





^Httri|H|^^^V-«« < « .'. 


■ *wr' M^ LMBHTir-'^Ws-. ^^^~-^^^U^^^ 







Frog Pond 

pany with great gravity go through their annual time-honored evolu- 
tions, and the boys of the school regiments have their clever May 
trainings. 

The granite shaft with its bronze figure of " Revolution," which stands 
in the green facing Lafayette Mall on the Tremont Street side, com- 
memorates the Boston Massacre of 1770, and is popularly called the 
Crispus Attacks Monument. It is by Robert Kraus, and was erected by 
the State in 1888. The bas-relief on the base reproduces a crude con- 
temporary picture of the scene published in London, together with the 
" Short Narrative" authorized by the town. The inscriptions are these 
words of John Adams and Webster : 

On that night the foundation of American 
Independence was laid. JOHN ADAMS. 

From that moment we may date the sever- 
ance of the British Empire. DANIEL WEBSTER. 

The names of the victims are inscribed on the shaft. 



34 BOSTON COMMON AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 

The classic stone band stand, resembling a Grecian fane, in the field 
west of the mall leading toward Park Square, commemorates the late 
George F. Parkman, an esteemed citizen, by whose wise benefactions 
the Common and other public parks of the city have greatly benefited. 

The mound at the southwest of the music field, higher once than now, 
was the Smokers' Circle of old, to which smokers were obliged to resort 
when tobacco smoking was not permitted elsewhere on the Common 
and was also forbidden on the streets. One hundred years ago smokers 
on the streets on Sundays and even on week days were arrested and 
fined, and this smokers' retreat on the Common remained as late as 185 1. 

The old Central burying ground (established 1756) was not originally 
a part of the Common, but was included within its limits in 1839, when 
the Boylston Street Mall (now the broad sidew'alk on the street) was 
laid out. Among its graves is that of Gilbert Stuart, the painter. In 
the green at the junction of the Boylston Street walk and the Lafayette 
Mall was for many years the Deer Park, inclosed by a high wire fence, 
where contented families of deer grazed. It was first established in 
1863 and flourished for nearly two decades. The Common's exterior 
boundary is officially given as one mile and one eighth. 

The promenade of Lafayette Mall is the finishing feature of the 
Subway work on this side of the Common. It extends over the Subway 
between Park and Boylston streets, and at Boylston Street joins a 
narrower walk which follows the Subway course on that side to Charles 
Street. While these walks lack the fringes of noble English elms 
which characterized the earlier malls here, they have attractions in the 
bordering masses of other trees and in their openness to the spacious 
street-ways free from street-car tracks. 

Being in the heart of things, Lafayette Mall is an animated thorough- 
fare. Close by is the principal theater quarter. In the same neighbor- 
hood is a notable group of hotels, including the Touraine on Tremont 
and Boylston streets (occupying the site of the mansion house of 
President John Quincy Adams, birthplace of Charles Francis Adams, 
Sr.) and the Adams House on Washington Street (on the site of the 
eighteenth-century Lamb Tavern, an early stagecoach starting place). 
On Washington Street, opposite the opening of Boylston Street, is a 
revolutionary landmark, — the site of the Liberty Tree, the rallying place 
of the Sons of Liberty in the prerevolutionary period, where the effigies 
were hung in the Stamp Act excitement. The business building that 
now covers the spot displays on its front an old tablet with a represen- 
tation of a tree, and beneath it these lines : 

Sons of Liberty, 1766 
Independence of their country, 1776. 



BOSTON SUBWAY 



35 



Liberty Tree Tavern was adjacent. Here the Liberty men refreshed 
themselves after their meetings at the tree. At a later date Lafayette 
Hotel was erected to mark the historical spot in season for the great 
welcome to Lafayette on the Frenchman's memorable last visit to the 
country in 1824. It was in commemoration of this visit that very 
much later — three quarters of a century afterward — Lafayette Mall 
received its name. 

The selection is based on a pretty incident of that visit. On the reception 
day the school children were lined up along Tremont Street Mall, and as 
Lafayette was passing in the procession they cast bouquets in his path so that 
his pcogress was upon a carpet of natural flowers. 

Midway up Boylston Street between Washington and Tremont 
streets is the building of the Young Men's Christian Union. On the 
Tremont Street corner facing the 
Lafayette Mall is the white granite 
Masonic Temple (the second on 
this site, built in 1898-1899), head- 
quarters of the Grand Lodge of 
Massachusetts. 

Occupying the streets east of the 
mall is the heart of the retail shop- 
ping quarter. Below the Temple 
Place corner is the Cathedral 
Church of St. Paul. This was the 
fourth Episcopal church in Boston, 
dating from 1820. The Grecian- 
like temple is of gray granite, the 
hexastvle porticoes of Potomac 
sandstone. Solomon Willard carved the Ionic capitals; Alexander 
Parris designed the whole. The pediment is bare, the original design 
of a bas-relief of Paul preaching at Athens never having been carried out. 

Of recent memory is the line of temporary wooden structures along 
the Lafayette Mall which housed the various activities associated with 
the World War. 

At the head of the Park Street Mall are the Park Street entrance and 
exit stations of the Subway. The first Boston Subway was authorized 
by the legislatures of 1893 and 1894. It was begun at the Public Gar- 
dens on March 28, 1895, and opened at Park Street for public travel on 
September i, 1897. Park Street is the most central point in the rapid- 
transit service of the city. The elevated, surface, subway, and tunnel 
systems have connections here, as is shown on the map on p. 36. Now 




Milk Street Station, Washington 
Street Tunnel 




Map showing the Elevated, Subway, and Tunnel Systems 



SHAW MEMORIAL 



37 



after many consolidations, tiie Boston Elevated Railway Company con- 
trols this entire service. It is quite the usual thing in Boston to descend 
into a subway to take a car that will soon emerge and mount an elevated 
structure ; and as frequently, after using an elevated station as a point 
of departure, a passenger may alight at a station in one of the tunnels. 
Likewise, with equal frequency, surface cars may descend to subways 
and tunnels or ascend to elevated structures. 

The Brewer Fountain, for a long time a conspicuous object on the 
Common, is now just back of the subway entrance. It is a copy in 
bronze of a fountain de- 
sigried by the French 
artist Lienard, which 
was awarded a gold 
medal at the World's 
Fair in 1855. Near by, 
at the easterly corner of 
the Common, opposite 
Park Street Church, is 
an interesting tablet re- 
lating to the.pu?r/iase of 
Boston Common from 
William Blackstone, 
Boston's first settler. 

Near the head of 
Park Street, opposite 
the State House, is the 
Colonel Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, facing Beacon Street, between two 
majestic elms, the most imposing piece of outdoor sculpture in the city. 
Colonel Shaw was the commander of the Fifty-fourth Regiment of 
Massachusetts Infantry, composed of colored troops, in the Civil War, 
and was killed at the head of his command while leading the assault 
on Fort Wagner, July 18, 1863 ; the monument commemorates the 
colored soldiers in that event as well as their leader. It consists of a 
statue of Colonel Shaw mounted, with his men pressing close beside him, 
in high relief upon a large bronze tablet. The sculptor was Augustus 
St. Gaudens, and the architect of the elaborate stone frame was Charles 
F. McKim. The inscriptions are unusually extensive and interesting, 
including verses of James Russell Lowell and Emerson, and a memorial 
by ex-President Eliot of Harvard. 

The monument was erected and dedicated in 1897. Its cost was met 
from a fund raised by voluntary subscriptions. Inscriptions on the steps 
leading up from the Common on each side of the Shaw Monument 




Shaw Monument 



38 JOHN HANCOCK HOUSE 

read, " Liberty Mall, dedicated October 27, 19 17, to our Soldiers and 
Sailors in the Great War." 

On the opposite side of Beacon Street, below the marble west wing of 
the State House, is the site of a long-cherished landmark that should have 
been preserved : the mansion house of Hancock. It is marked by a modest 
bronze tablet set in the iron fence in front of the State House grounds : 
Here stood the residence of John Hancock, a prominent and patriotic A/er- 
chant of Boston, the first Signer of the Declaration of American Independ- 
ence, a7id Fii'st Govei'nor of Massachusetts, tinder the State Constitution. 

At the time of its demolition the mansion, besides being of exceptional 
historic value, was a rare type of our provincial domestic architecture 
and was well fitted by situation and character for preservation as the 
official dwelling of the governors of the Commonwealth, as was proposed 
some years before. The main structure was then nearly as in Gover- 
nor Hancock's day, when it was called the " seat of his Excellency the 
Governor," and it contained much of the furnishings and appointments 
of his time, with the family portraits by Copley and Smibert. A meas- 
ure for its purchase by the state for the governor's house was reported 
to the Legislature in 1859 by an influential committee; but the project 
failed. At length, in P'ebruary, 1863, the land which it occupied was 
sold. For a while thereafter it served as a museum of historical relics, 
and then, a scheme for its removal and reerection elsewhere failing, it 
was pulled down. Souvenirs of it were eagerly sought as it fell. The 
knocker on the front door was given to Dr. Holmes, who placed it on 
•the door of the " old gambrel-roofed house " in Cambridge, where it 
remained till that also was demolished. The flight of stone steps which 
led up to the entrance are now in service on Pinebank, Jamaica Park. 
The purchasers of the land, J. M. Beebe and Gardner Brewer, two 
leading Boston merchants, erected a stately double house for their 
occupancy. A/essrs. Cinn and Company became established here in 
1901, when the old residences which had been converted for their use 
in Tremont Place, and which they had occupied since 1875, were torn 
down to make way for a large office building (see p. 47 ). For fifteen years 
the business offices of Messrs. Ginn and Company fully occupied the 
spacious interior of one of the former residences (No. 29) which stood 
on the site of the Hancock Mansion. In 1916 the marble extension of 
the Bulfinch Front of the State House to the west, and the taking of the 
surrounding grounds, necessitated the elimination of Hancock Avenue 
(a footway connecting Beacon and Mt. Vernon streets) and the removal 
of several of the houses, including No. 29, on Beacon Street. Since 
leaving this site Messrs. Ginn and Company have had offices at 15 Ash- 
burton Place, in the Ford Building (see p. 47). 



JOHN HANCOCK HOUSE 



39 



The old mansion was of Quincy granite obtained from the surface, as in the 
case of King's Chapel, squared and well hammered. The principal features of 
the fa§ade were the broad front door at the head of a flight of stone steps, gar- 
nished with pillars and an ornamental door head ; and the ornamented central 
window over it. The high gambrel roof with dormer windows showed a carved 
balcony railing inclosing its upper portion. The interior comprised a nobly 
paneled hall, having a broad staircase with carved and twisted balusters, which 
divided the house in the middle and extended through on both stories from 
front to rear. On the landing, part way up the staircase, was a circular-headed 
window looking out upon the garden, with a broad and capacious window seat. 
On the entrance floor, at the right of tlie hall, was the great dining-room, seven- 
teen by twenty-five feet, also elaborately paneled from floor to ceiling. Until the 
widening of Beacon Street the house stood well back from the street on ground 
elevated above it. The approach was then through a "neat garden bordered 
with small trees " and shrubbery. The mansion then, also, had two large wings, 
one on the east side containing a great 
ballroom, the other on the west side 
appropriated to the kitchen and other 
domestic ofifices. Beyond the west 
wing was the coach house, and adjoin- 
ing that the stable. 

Behind the mansion were the gar- 
dens and fruit-tree nurseries, extend- 
ing up the side of the then existing 
peak of Beacon Hill where the State 
House Annex stands. The mansion 
with the estate came to John Hancock 
in 1777, upon the death of Lydia 
Hancock, widow of his uncle, Thomas Jo^ Hancock Housef 
Hancock, who built the house. The 

estate then included the territory occupied by the State House, and extended 
along Beacon Street to Joy Street. During the Siege Lord Percy occupied the 
mansion for some time. 

On the opposite side of Beacon Street are the Guild Steps, — 
" Built to commemorate a life of service to Commonwealth and 
Nation." This memorial to Curtis Guild, late governor of the state, 
faces Joy Street and leads to the head of Holmes's "Long Path" 
(the mall running southward across the Common's length to Boyls- 
ton Street, — the scene of the crisis in the " Autocrat's " courtship 
of the schoolmistress). Looking westward at the lower corner of 
Walnut Street, the next opening below Joy Street, we see the 
house in which Wendell Phillips was born. Lower down. No. 40, 
is the Woman's City Club. The Somerset Club, Nos. 42, 43, is close 
to the site of the house in which John Singleton Copley lived when 
he was painting his remarkable Boston portraits. Still farther 




7 E-"rt-<^ 



1737-186^ 



40 



STATE HOUSE 



down, below the next side opening, we catch a glimpse of the painted 
brick "swell" of number 55, the home of the historian William H. 
Prescott. 

From the State House to the Old South. The front of the State House, 
with its terraced lawn, occupies the cow pasture of the Hancock estate. 
This is the historic " Bulfinch Front," designed by Charles Bulfinch and 
erected in 1 795-1 797. It alone constituted the Massachusetts State 
House for more than half a century. Then a new part, extending back 
upon Mt. Vernon Stieet, was added (1853-1856), called the "Bryant 

Addition," from the 
name of its principal 
architect. The"State 
House Extension," 
(erected 1SS9-1895) 
(C harles E. Brigham, 
architect), was built 
back from the Bul- 
finch Front, with the 
archway over Mt. 
Vernon Street, and 
ending at Derne 
Street. By 191 2 ad- 
ditional office space 
was needed. A 
scheme was matured 
by R. D. Andrews, 
R. C. Sturgis, and 
W. Chapman which 
not only secured the 
space but had as its 
aesthetic purpose the 
restoration of the 
principal fa9ade to Beacon Street. This had been lost by the vast 
" State House Extension" to the north. By the addition of the two 
marble wings the supremacy of the Bulfinch structure was asserted in 
the general design. Standing on the highest point of land in the city 
proper, the yellow dome of the Bulfinch Front (the "Gilded Dome" 
since 1874, when gold leaf was first applied to it) is a familiar 
landmark. 

Till 181 1 the main peak of Beacon Hill rose directly behind the 
Bulfinch Front, a grassy, cone-shaped mound about as high as the 
dome. On its broad, flat summit the Beacon was set up as early as 




DORIC HALL 



41 



1634, from which the name of the entire hill came, it having earlier 
been called Gentry Hill, from a lookout established here. 

The Beacon was to warn the country on occasions of danger. It consisted of 
an iron skillet filled with combustibles for firing, suspended from an iron crane 
at the top of a high mast, with treenails in it for its ascent. This and its suc- 
cessors stood for more than a century and a half, but it never seems to have been 
fired for alarm. During the Siege the British pulled the Beacon down and erected 
a fort in its stead. It was reerected after the Evacuation and stood till 1789, when 
it was blown down in a gab. 

After the Revolution the first Independence monument in the country was 
set up on this sightly peak (i 790-1 791), —a plain Doric column of brick 
covered with stucco, on a base of stone, and topped with a gilded wooden 
eagle supporting the American arms, — the work of Uulfinch, now repro- 
duced in stone and standing in the State House Park on the east side of 
the long building. When the peak was cut down {in iSi 1-1S23, its earth 
going principally to fill the North Cove which became the Mill Pond, 
now in small part covered by Haymarket Square) this monument was 
destroyed, only the inscribed tablets and the eagle being reserved. The 
tablets are inserted in the base of the present monument. A wooden effigy 
of the eagle is now over the President's chair in the Senate Chamber. 

The main approach to the State House, up the long sweep of broad 
stone steps from Beacon Street, leads to the spacious porch from 
which opens Doric Hall, the main hall of the Bulfinch Front. The 
bronze statues en the terrace lawn are: on the right as we ascend, 
Daniel Webster, by Hiram Powers, erected in 1859 by the Webster 
Memorial Committee ; on the left, Horace Mann, by Emma Stebbins, 
erected in 1865, a gift from school children and teachers of the state, 
who gave the fund for its execution in recognition of Horace Mann's 
service in developing the system of popular education in Massachusetts. 

In Doric Hall we see the statue of Washington in marble, by Sir Fran- 
cis Chantrey, given to the state in 1827 by the Washington Monument 
Association ; and the marble statue of John A. Andrew, the " war gov- 
ernor," by Thomas Ball, erected in 1871, the cost being met from a 
surplus of ^10,000 remaining from the fund subscribed for the statue 
of Edward Everett in Edward Everett Scpiare. Set in a side wall near 
these statues are two memorials of the Washington family, — fac- 
similes of the tombstones of the ancestors of Washington, from the 
parish church of Brington, Northamptonshire, England, given to the 
state by Charles Sumner in 1861, to whom they were presented by Earl 
Spencer. Against the walls on either side of the W^ashington statue 
are tablets to the memory of Charles Bulfinch, and commemorating 
the "preservation and renewal of the Massachusetts State House." 



42 STATE HOUSE 

On the side walls are portraits of governors of Massachusetts. Four 
brass cannon are placed against the wall ; two of them consecrate the 
names of Major John Buttrick and Captain Isaac Davis, heroes of the 
fight at Concord Bridge, April 19, 1775 ; the other two are cannon cap- 
tured in the War of 181 2. 

From Doric Hall we enter the passageway leading into the "Senate 
Staircase Hall," and from the latter we pass into "Memorial Hall," the 
crowning feature of this floor. In the passageway is a bronze statue of 
Major General William F. Bartlett, by Daniel C. French. 

The Senate Staircase Hall is an effective piece of marble work. The 
paintings on the north wall represent "Paul Revere's Ride," "James 
Otis Making his Famous Argument Against the Writs of Assistance in 
the Old Town House in Boston, in F'ebruary, 1761," and "The Boston 
Tea Party," all by Robert Reid. The Memorial to the Army Nurses, 
1861-1865, arrests attention. The staircases here are of pavonazzo 
marble. By the staircase landings are two tablets associated with the 
World War. One is in memory of Lieutenant Norman Prince, " Founder 
of the Lafayette Escadrille — French Army, 1914"; the other is a 
tribute to the service of Henry Bradford Endicott, State and Federal 
Food Administrator, and Executive of the Massachusetts Committee of 
Public Safety from February 10, 1917 to November 21, 1918. The bal- 
cony formed by the third-floor corridor is surmounted by twelve Ionic 
columns. Its windows at the south are emblematic of Commerce, 
Education, Fisheries, and Agriculture. At the head of the stairs are 
the seal of the colony (i 628-1 684) and the seal of the state carved in 
marble. Upon the pillars of the entrance to Memorial Hall are bronze 
reliefs of Major General Thomas G. Stevenson (by Bela L. Pratt) and 
Rear Admiral John A. Winslow (by William Couper). 

The marble Memorial Hall in circular form rises to a dome with bronze 
cornice environed by the eagles of the Republic, the crest of the Com- 
monwealth appearing above, in cathedral glass, surrounded by the seals 
of the other twelve original states. The gallery is supported by six- 
teen pillars of Siena marble. The eight niches with glass fronts 
contain the battle flags carried by Massachusetts soldiers and sailors in 
the Civil War, the Spanish War, and the World War. The large paint- 
ings on the walls are: north wall, "The Pilgrims on the Mayflower''; 
south wall, "John Eliot Preaching to the Indians,"— both by Henry 
Oliver Walker; west wall, "Concord Bridge, April 19, 1775"; east 
wall, " The Return of the Colors to the Custody of the Commonwealth, 
December 22, 1865," — both by Edward Simmons. 

Beyond Memorial Hall the main staircase leads to the floor upon 
which is Representatives Hall. This chamber is finished in white 



STATE LIBRARY 



43 



mahogany, with paneled M'alls. The coved ceiling is embellished with 
frescoes by Frank Hill Smith. The historic codfish is suspended oppo- 
site the Speaker's desk, between the central columns (see p. 9). In the 
lobby the statue of Governor Roger Wolcott (placed 1907) is by 
Daniel C. French. On the east side are the rooms of the Secretary 
of the Commonwealth, in which are to be seen precious documents 
incased in asbestos boxes, — the Colony Charter of 1628, the Prov- 
ince Charter of 1692, the Explanatory Charter of George II, and the 
original Constitution of the Commonwealth, with an attested copy 
made in 1894, the original having become in part illegible. In the 
archives, on the fourth floor, belonging to this department are, with 
much other valuable historical material, the military records of the 
Narragansett War, of 
the French and Indian 
Wars, and the muster 
and pay rolls of the 
Revolution, the original 
depositions and exam- 
inations of persons 
accused of witchcraft, 
and manuscript papers 
of the Revolution. 

In the State Library, 
at the north end of the 
building, is to be seen 
in a glass-covered case 
the famous Bradford 
Manuscript, the " His- 
tory of Plimoth Plantation " by Governor William Bradford, popularly 
but erroneously called the Log of the Mayflower. This is the volume 
which after various adventures found lodgment in the Library of the 
Bishop of London's Palace at Fulham, and was returned to the Com- 
monwealth by the Bishop of London through the efforts of Senator 
Hoar of Massachusetts and the Hon. Thomas F. Bayard, ambassa- 
dor at the Court of St. James. It was received in behalf of the Com- 
monwealth by Governor Wolcott, May 26, 1S97. The State Library 
contains 380,000 volumes. 

The Executive Department and the quarters of the Senate are in 
the Bulfinch Front. The Council Chamber, fashioned in the Corinthian 
order, has the old ornamentations designed by Bulfinch. In the Gover- 
nor's Rooms are several portraits of note. In the Senate Chamber, occu- 
pying niches, are busts of Washington, Franklin, Lafayette, Lincoln, and 




Repkicskntatives Hali- — The Hibiukic CuutisH 



44 STATE HOUSE PARK 

distinguished Massachusetts men. Suspended from the south wall are 
two muskets. One of them was captured at Lexington on the 19th of 
April, 1775, the first firearm taken from the enemy in the war for Inde- 
pendence. The other is a fowling piece used in the same engagement 
by Captain John I'arker, the commander of the minutemen. Both were 
gifts to the state by his distinguished grandson, Theodore Parker, the 
preacher and reformer. In the Senate Receptio>i Roo?n are numerous 
interesting relics. Among them are a Hessian hat, sword, gun, and 
drum captured at the battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777, which 
were presented to the state by Brigadier General John Stark. On the 
walls are portraits of many of the governors, including an original 
portrait of John ^Yinthrop. 

The State House Park, on the east side of the long building, is a 
spreading lawn fringed with young trees, shrubs, and flowers, space 
for which was obtained by discontinuing two or three fine old streets 
and removing the well-favored dwellings that faced upon them. Be- 
neath a considerable part of it are great coal bunkers for the large 
supply of coal required for the State House. The reproduced Bnlfinch 
J\Io)iutne)it in stone occupies as near as may be the position of the 
original one. It is an exact copy of it in dimensions, and the eagle at 
its top follows the original drawing of Bulfinch's bird. The inscrip- 
tion on the bronze tablet in the base gives this concise chapter of 
history : In 1634 the General Couj-t caused a Beacon to be placed on the 
top of this hill. I?t lygo a brick and stone j?tomi?)ient desigfied by 
Charles Bnlfinch replaced the Beacon, but was removed in 1811 tuheit 
the hill was ctit do7vn. It is now 7-eprodiiced in stone by the Bunker Hill 
Monument Association. i8gS. The old tablets of the Bulfinch monu- 
ment are set higher in the base. 

The statues on the lawns close by are of Major General Nathaniel P. 
Banks (Governor, Congressman), by H. H. Kitson ; and of Major Gen- 
eral Charles Devens (United States Marshal, United States Attorney- 
General, and Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts), 
by OHn L. Warner. The equestrian statue on the Beacon Street side of 
the park, set in the broad walk, is of Major General Joseph Hooker, 
the figure by Daniel C. French, the horse by Edward C. Potter. The 
statue of Anne Hutchinson is a recent work by Cyrus E. Dallin. 

We reenter Beacon Street by this walk and find ourselves opposite 
the head of Park Street. Down Park Street we see, facing the Common, 
ahne of buildings, mostly dwellings reconstructed for business purposes, 
several of which are interesting landmarks. The upper one at the 
Beacon Street corner was, in part (that part fronting on Park Street, a 
portion of the old iron-railed entrance steps remaining), the home of 



BEACON STREET 



45 



George Ticknor, the historian (" History of Spanish Literature "). The 
larger building below is the house of the Union Club, established (1863) 
during the Civil War, primarily as a political club in support of the 
Union cause. Edward Everett was its first president. It occupies 
in part the residence of Abbott Lawrence, a foremost Boston mer- 
chant in his time. In No. 6 are the quarters of the Mayflower Club, of 
women. Below is Goodspeed's snug book shop. At No. 4 is the pub- 
lishing house of the Houghton Mifflin Company, occupying the old 
Quiiicy mansion house^ the winter home of the elder Josiah Quincy 
(whose statue we shall pres- 
ently, see) through the last 
seven years of his long, 
eventful, and useful life of 
nearly ninety-two years. 

Now turning our steps 
down Beacojt Street east- 
ward, we pass in close 
neighborhood the Unitarian 
Building, at the comer of 
Bowdoin Street; directly 
opposite, the Congregational 









House ; and next to this the From an Old Print of Boston Common 
Boston Athenseum. 

The Unitarian Building, a low, Moorish-like structure of brownstone 
(built 1885-1886), is the headquarters of the American Unitarian Asso- 
ciation, and the general denominational house, where are the offices of 
various organizations, national, state, and local. Channing Hall here, 
and neighboring rooms, are embellished with portraits and busts of 
Unitarian leaders. The Congregational House, a building of stone and 
brick, ornamented with sculptured tablets (built 1S97-1S9S), is the head- 
quarters of the Congregational Trinitarian denomination. The emblem- 
atic sculptures on the fa9ade represent respectively, from east to 
west: Law, depicting the Signing of the Compact in the cabin of the 
Mayflower^ November 21, 1620; Religion, the observance of Sunday 
on Clark's Island on the day before the landing at Plymouth ; Educa- 
tion, the act of the General Court of Massachusetts passed October 28, 
1636, appropriating money for a " schoole or colledge" ; and Philan- 
thropy, the preaching of the apostle Eliot to the Indians at Waban's 
wigwam on old Nonantum Hill, Newton, October, 1646. In this 
building are established the Congregational Library and the Missionary 
Library of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 
with the remarkable Pratt Collection, in the Bible Room, embracing 



46 



BOSTON ATHEN^UM 



Hebrew rolls, various editions of the Scriptures, palm books, biblical 
and other charts, relics, and antiquities. The head offices of the 
American Board are here. Pilgrim Hall is in the rear from the main 
entrance. 

The Boston Athenaeum, presenting a classic front of brown freestone, 
in marked contrast with its lofty neighbors, dates from 1849. The 
literary institution for which it was erected dates back to 1807. This 
had its origin in the Monthly Anthology, a magazine first published 
in 1803, of which the Rev. William Emerson, 
father of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was the prin- 
cipal editor. The persons w^ho became interested 
in that "journal of polite literature" — a remark- 
able set of cultivated young men — formed the 
" Anthology Club," and collected a library, which 
was incorporated in 1807 as the Boston Athe- 
naeum. Quarters were first found in Congress 
,l™^-__,,^. .,,^ Street, then in a Pearl Street mansion house 
■iriTT. ij^^j ..g- presented to the institution (1821), and later this 
*^'*g;^ ^ yr ii ^^5' building was built by the corporation. For many 
years the Athenaeum had in connection with its 
library a valuable art gallery, but the best paint- 
ings of its collection have been transferred to 
the Museum of Fine Arts, Back Bay. It now 
possesses over 290,000 volumes, many of them 
rare; a large collection of Braun photographs 
and art works ; files of early newspapers ; the 
Bemis collection of works on international law, 
including state papers, etc., for the increase of 
which there is a substantial fund ; one of the very best sets of United 
States documents in the country ; the best collection in existence of 
books published in the South during the Civil War; and a large part 
of George Washington's private library, with many works relating to 
the first President. The Stuart portrait of Washington now at the 
Art Museum is owned by the Athenaeum. 





The Athenaeum became early a center of the new literary and artistic life which 
was to make Boston famous in Emerson's time. From it came, more or less 
directly, the old and scholarly North A))ierica7t Review ; and most of the literary 
societies and libraries of to-day in Boston owe their origin entirely or in part to 
the influence of the Athenaeum and its founders. The institution is managed by 
trustees elected by its 1049 shareholders, known as "proprietors." The income 
is derived from invested funds and from an annual assessment upon each share 
in use. Some famous men of New England have been among the proprietors of 



BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 47 

the Athenaeum, including Daniel Webster, Charles Sumner, Holmes, Parkman, 
and Prescott. 

The Hotel Bellevue attractively faces the Athenaeum. The Boston 
School Committee occupies the building at No. 15 Beacon Street. 

The old-fashioned " Boston swell fronts " at the upper corner of 
Somerset Street were the first clubhouse of the Boston City Club, a 
notable Boston institution, organized in 1904 by citizens " interested in 
the city of Boston and the problems of its growth." The club, unique 
in its class, has an imposing membership and is much the largest social 
and business club in the city. This organization has erected its new 
clubhouse at Somerset Street and Ashburton Place. It ranks as one of 
the most thoroughly equipped modern clubhouses. 

In Sojnerset Street, next the clubhouse, is the home of the Boston 
lodge of the Order of Elks, formerly the general building of Boston 
University (see pp. 81, 95). On Ashburton Place is the building of 
the New England Historic Genealogical Society (founded 1844, incorpo- 
rated 1845), successor of the earlier house of this institution at No. 18 
Somerset Street (now occupied by the School for Social Workers and the 
Social Service Library). The society has a valuable library of more than 
50,000 volumes and over 100,000 pamphlets, comprising the best known 
collection of genealogical works, biographies, and histories, American 
and English. Many visitors, students in genealogy and compilers, 
make daily use of this extensive collection. The society also possesses 
numerous rare manuscripts and historical relics. It publishes the "New 
England Historical and Genealogical Register" (established 1847). 

The granite-faced building next above (originally the Mt. Vernon 
Church, see p. 94) is the Boston University School of Law. Beyond this, 
Ashburton Place is impressively finished toward the State House Park 
by the Ford Building. Here (No. 15) Messrs. Ginn and Company moved 
after their location at 29 Beacon Street, the site of the Hancock Man- 
sion, was taken for the State House grounds (see p. 38). Three floors of 
the Ford Building are now used by Messrs. Ginn and Company for their 
business and editorial offices. 

On Beacon Stt'eet again the modern office building occupying the 
corner of Tremont Place covers the site of a row of pleasant houses 
which slowly changed from dwellings to business places. The corner 
one was the sometime home of Nathan Hale, where Edwajd Everett 
Hale passed his boyhood when he was attending the Latin School. 
At the end of the row was the publishing house of Messrs. Ginn and 
Company, from which they removed in 1901 to the Hancock-house site, 
29 Beacon Street (see p. 38). 



48 



FIRST SCHOOLHOUSE 



Crossing crowded Tremont Street we enter more crowded School 
Street, one of the most traveled and one of the shortest thoroughfares 
in the city. Just below King's Chapel we are at the site of the first 
schoolhouse of the first public school, which is continued in the present 
Public Latin School, now^ at the South End (Warren Avenue, Dartmouth 
and Montgomery streets). A bronze tablet set on the first stone post 
of the fence in front of the City Hall is inscribed with its story: On 
this spot stood the First House erected for the use of the Boston Public Latin 
School. This school has been cofistantly tnai7itai}ied since it was estab- 
lished by the following vote of 
the town : At a tneeting upon 
public notice it was generally 
agreed that our brother Phile- 
ifion Pormont shall be en- 
treated to become schoohnaster 
for the teaching a7td nurtur- 
ing of children with us. April 

This schoolhouse stood 
where the chancel and pulpit 
of King's Chapel are now. It 
gave the street its name. 

It was built in 1645 (previous 
to wliich the school was held in 
the master's house), and remained 
on this spot for upward of a cen- 
tury. Then in 1 748 another build- 
ing was erected on the opposite 
side where is now the Parker 
House. The present is the fifth 
building of the school. In the long roll of Latin School pupils appear the names 
of Franklin, Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Robert Treat Paine; Cotton ]\Iather, 
Henry Ward Beecher, James Freeman Clarke, Edward Everett Hale, and Phillips 
Brooks; Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Lothrop Motley, and Francis Parkman ; 
Presidents Leverett, Langdon, Everett, and Eliot of Harvard College ; Charles 
Francis Adams, Sr., Charles Sumner, and William M. Evarts. 

The heavy granite City Hall (built 1 862-1 865), of elaborate design, 
calls only for a passing glance. It succeeded a Bulfinch building on 
the same site, — a Court House refitted for a City Hall. City Hall 
Annex faces Court Street at the rear. The bronze statues in the yard 
are more interesting. That of Benjamin Frankli)i was the first portrait 
statue set up in Boston (1856). It is the work of Richard Greenough. 




CITY HALL 



49 



The fund for its erection was raised by popular subscription. The four 
bronze medallions in the sunken panels of the pedestal represent as 
many periods in Franklin's career. 

The other statue, of Josiah QutJtcy, is by Thomas Ball, and was 
placed in 1879. ^^ represents the elder Quincy as he appeared in mid- 
dle life when mayor of Boston. The base is a block of Quincj granite. 
A marble statue by William 
W. Story, in Memorial Hall 
at Cambridge, represents 
Quincy in later life, or when 
president of the college. 

One should notice a tablet 
in the sidewalk fence in front 
of the Franklin statue whii li 
marks the residence (1774- 
1775) of the British officer t. 
whom the Latin School boys 
made protest against the de- 
struction of their coasting 
place. Another tablet, at the 
corner of the foot passage 
called "City Hall Avenue," 
reads: On this site was the 
house of James Otis, the patriot, 
purchased by him in ly^o. 
After the Revolution it was the 
residence of Reverend fames 
Freeman of King's Chapel. 

At the end of School Street the ancient building long known as the 
" Old Corner Bookstore " lingers a weathered old relic of the past in 
one of the busiest quarters, although the booksellers finally left it in 
1903. It dates from 171 2. It had been a book stand since 1828. Its 
interest lies particularly in its literary associations, for in what is regarded 
now as the golden age of Boston literary activity — about the middle 
and third quarter of the nineteenth century — it was the chief literary 
lounge and calling place of the city. This was especially the character- 
istic of the "Old Corner" during the long years of its occupancy by 
Ticknor & Fields and their immediate successors. 

The " Curtained Corner " of James T. Fields in the back part of the old book- 
shop has been much discoursed upon. George William Curtis in the " Easy 
Chair " called it " the exchange of wit, the Rialto of current good things, the hub 
of the hub. It was a very remarkable group of men, — indeed it was the first 




Old Cokxek Bouksiuke 



s<=> 



OLD SOUTH MEETINGHOUSE 



group of really great American authors which familiarly frequented the corner 
as guests of Fields." 



Previous to this building there was here the Hutchinson Homestead, 
where lived that colonial dame, Anne I/nic/iinso7i, strong of mind and 
keen of wit, one of John Cotton's 'old Boston-in- 
England parishioners, who became the central figure 
in the violent antinomian controversy which tore the 
Colony in i^^fj-i^^,^, and who was finally banished 
for heresy. In her little home here she instituted the 
weekly gathering of women to discuss the Sunday 
sermon after the fashion of the men, and so she is 
credited with having set up the first woman's club in 
America. 

The Old South Bnilding opposite, the monumental 
business structure of stone and steel spreading 
between Spring Lane and around the Old South 
Meetinghouse to Milk Street, covers near its south- 
east end the site of Winthrop's second mansion 
(where he died), which was afterward and until the 
Revolution the parsonage house of the Old South, 
and which the British demolished together with the 
shading row of butternut trees before it, using them 
for firewood during the Siege. The tall walls of the 
ornate building close against the plain brick meet- 
inghouse, and reaching above its tower, dwarf the 
historic structure, but add to its uniqueness. By the 
faithful restoration of the exterior to the appearance 
it bore in provincial days, the outward aspect of the 
venerated building and its historic value have been 
much enhanced. 

The Old South is now a loan museum of Revo- 
lutionary and other relics, colonial furniture, and 
Old South Church portraits, open to the public for a modest fee, which 
goes to meet the cost of its maintenance. The 
interior is also restored as far as possible to the aspect which it bore 
in the prerevolutionary period, when it was the scene of those great 
town meetings, too large for the old Faneuil Hall, which "kindled the 
flame that fired the Revolution," and in commemoration of which 
the meetinghouse came to be called the " Sanctuary of Freedom." 
A huge tablet, now to be seen inside the building, was originally (in 
1867) placed in the tower. It is inscribed with these historic dates: 




OLD SOUTH MEETINGHOUSE 51 

Old South 

Church gathered 1669 

First House built 1670 

This House erected 1729 

Desecrated by British troops 1775-6 

The preservation of the meetinghouse is directly due to the efforts 
of an organization of twenty-five Boston women, under the title of the 
" Old South Preservation Committee," formed in the centennial year 
of 1876, at a critical juncture, when its demolition was imminent 
through the sale of the property for mercantile purposes. Public 
interest was aroused, "preservation meetings" were held with lectures, 
addresses, and poems by Emerson, Henry Lee, Lowell, Holmes, and 
others; and finally this organization succeeded — Mrs. Mary Hemenway 
contributing $100,000 — in purchasing the estate, subject to certain 
restrictions, for ^430,000. It is now used for various lectures and public 
gatherings. Among the many objects of interest in the Old South col- 
lection are: Joseph Warren's christening cap, Warren's day-book, "Tea 
Party " tea, musket from battle of Lexington, model of "Old Ironsides" 
(made by one of her crew), Washington's letters, model of Boston in 1775. 

The town meetings of greatest moment held here were those of June 14 and 
15, 1768, upon the matter of the impressment of Massachusetts men by the com- 
mander of his majesty's ship of war Romney ; the long afternoon and early 
evening meeting of March 6, 1770, the day after the Boston Massacre, which 
brought about the removal of the British regiments from the town ; and the anti- 
tea meetings between November 27 and December 16, 1773, culminating with the 
" Tea Party " and the emptying of the cargoes of the tea ships into the harbor. 
The series of orations commemorative of the Boston Massacre was delivered 
here, Dr. Joseph Warren, three months before he was killed at Bunker Hill, pro- 
nouncing the second one, upon which occasion he was introduced through a window 
in the rear of the pulpit, the entrance doors and the aisles, and even the pulpit 
steps, being occupied by British soldiers and ofificers. During the Siege, when the 
meetinghouse was used as a riding school by Burgoyne's regiment of light dra- 
goons, the floor was cleared for their exercises, and cart loads of earth and gravel 
were spread over it. The pulpit, the pews, and all the inside structures except 
the sounding-board and the east galleries were taken out and most of them burned 
for fuel. One " beautiful carved pew," with silken furnishings, was carried off to 
a neighboring house and "made a hog stye" of. The east galleries were fitted 
for spectators, and in one of them was a refreshment bar. The south door was 
closed and a pole was fixed here over which the cavalry were taught to leap their 
horses at full speed. In the winter a stove was set up, in which were used for 
kindling many of the precious books and manuscripts of the Rev. Thomas 
Prince's New England Library, then deposited in the " steeple-room " of the 
tower. The manuscript of Bradford's "History of Plimoth " (see p. 43), and 
that of the third volume of Winthrop's Journal among them, were spared. In 



52 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S BIRTHPLACE 

this tower study the Rev. Jeremy Belknap, the historian and the recognized 
founder of the Massachusetts Historical Society, did much work. 

The meetinghouse which preceded this, a " little house of cedar," was the one 
which Andros obliged the regular church organization to share with the first 
Episcopal church (see p. 24). That, too, was the place where Judge Samuel 
Sewall in 1697 published his " confession of contrition " for his share as a witch- 
craft judge in the " blood-guiltiness" at Salem five years before. It was also the 
meetinghouse where Benjamin Franklin was baptized on the day of his birth, 
January 17 (6 0. S.), 1706. 

In the neighborhood of the Old South is the newspaper quarter, 
Newspaper Row, extending below the curve of Washington Street, 
northward. Near it, also on Washington Street and Bromfield Street, 
are popular bookshops. 

From the Old South to the " Tea Party " Site. At the Old South we 
turn into Milk Street, but before doing so we should identify the site 
of the Province House, the official residence of the royal governors, pic- 
tured in Hawthorne's " Legends of the Province House." This mansion 
stood nearly opposite the meetinghouse, well back from the main street, 
above a handsome lawn ornamented by two noble oaks at the street front. 
A foot p.assage from Washington Street goes back into Province Court, 
the original approach to the stables of the Province House. 

It was a stately house of brick, three stories, with gambrel roof, and a high 
cupola surmounted by a figure of an Indian with drawn bow and arrow, another 
specimen of the handiwork of "Deacon" Shem Drowne, maker of the grass- 
hopper on Faneuil Hall. The approach was by a high flight of stone steps 
leading to a portico, over which appeared the royal arms in deal and gilt. It 
long outlived the Province period. After the Revolution it served the Com- 
monwealth a while as the Government House, for the sittings of the governor 
and council, and for state offices. Thereafter it fell to commercial uses, and in 
its latter days it was a hall of negro minstrelsy. It finally passed, all but the bit 
of wall, in a fire in 1864. It was built originally for a dwelling by an opulent 
merchant, Peter Sergeant, in 1667. The Province bought it for a governor's 
house in 1715. The Indian was preserved and is now in the collection of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society. 

Province Street and Province Court led to the rear grounds of the Province 
House. After the Revolution Province Street was for some time called the 
Governor's Alley. 

On Milk Street we pass the site of Benjamin Franklin's Birthplace, 
covered by the building No. 17, nearly opposite the side of the Old 
South, which bears on its front the legend " Birthplace of Franklin," 
with a bust of the philosopher. 

A little farther down, on the left, is the Federal Building, including 
the Post Ofifice and the Federal courts, a gloomy pile of granite, chiefly 



FORT HILL SQUARE 53 

interesting for its service in checking at this point the sweep of the 
Great Fire of November 9-10, 1872, the gravest of all great Boston fires. 
In the wall at the Milk and Devonshire streets corner is a tablet which 
records that this fire, " beginning at the southeasterly corner of Summer 
and Kingston streets, extended over an area of sixty acres, destroyed 
within the business center of the city property to the value of more than 
sixty million dollars, and was arrested in its northeasterly progress at 
this point. The mutilated stones of this building also record that event." 

Federal Street, next below Devonshire Street, southward, is one of 
the main avenues to the South Station. It has two historic sites, at or 
about the western corners of Franklin Street, covered by business build- 
ings: one, that of the Federal Street Theater, the first regular playhouse 
in Boston, designed by Bulfinch and erected in 1794; the other, of the 
Federal Street Church, the Boston pulpit of William Ellery Channing 
from 1803 till his death in 1842. 

We continue two blocks farther down Milk Street to Fear! Street, 
which opens from Fost Office Square, upon which the Federal building 
fronts. The massive granite drinking basin, with high, shapely shaft 
topped by a gilt eagle, which ornaments this square is, as its inscription 
denotes, a practical memorial to Dr. George T. Angell (182*3-1909): 
erected " by the school children of Boston, by the City of Boston, and 
by the societies he founded — the Massachusetts Society for the Pre- 
vention of Cruelty to Animals and the American Humane Education 
Society." Near the north side is the site of the first office of the 
Liberator, where, in 1831, William Lloyd Garrison began his antislavery 
editorial work. When Garrison was mobbed in 1835, and was given refuge 
in the Old State House, then the City Hall, the Liberator o^a^ was on 
Washington Street. Among the newer buildings in this quarter those of 
the Chamber of Commerce, the Federal Reserve Bank (with elaborate 
decorations and appropriate mural paintings in the junior officers' room), 
the First National Bank, and the National Shawmut Bank are important. 

Turning into Pearl Street we follow it to its end at Atlantic Avenue, 
where is the " Tea Party " site. Along the way we cross High Street, 
and looking down this street eastward we see in the distance the poplar 
trees of Fort Hill Square, which marks the site of Fort Hill, one of the 
three original hills of Boston, which was leveled in 1S67-1872. The hill got 
its name from the fort which was erected on its summit in 1632, the first 
fort on the peninsula. It was then at the eastern extremity of the town, 
directly opposite the harbor. In the second fort here, built in 1687, Andros 
took refuge at the time of the revolution which overthrew his government. 

The "Tea Party Wharf" was near the western line of the present 
Atlantic Avenue, close by Pearl Street. The tablet which we see on 



54 THE NORTH END 

the avenue front of the building occupying the northern corner of 
the two streets marks the site as nearly as possible. The inscription, 
beneath the model of a tea ship, tells the story of the party concisely: 

Here formerly stood 
GRIFFIN'S WHARF 
at which lay moored on Dec. i6, 1773, three 
British ships with cargoes of tea. To defeat 
King George's trivial but tyrannical tax 
of three pence a pound, about ninety 
citizens of Boston, partly disguised 
as Indians, boarded the ships, 
threw the cargoes, three hun- 
dred and forty-two chests 
in all, into the sea, 
and made the world 
ring with the patriotic 
exploit of the 
BOSTON TEA PARTY. 

"No, ne'er was mingled such a draught 
In palace, hall, or arbor, 
As freemen brewed and tyrants quaffed 
That night in Boston Harbor." 

At this point we can take a surface car or, by walking to the next 
station northward, an elevated train, and ride to the North End tor our 
exploration of that quarter. It is better, however, to take a south- 
bound car and return by way of Dewey Square (passing the South 
Station) and Summer Street to Washington Street, making our entry 
into the North End by the customary route from Scollay Square. 



2. The North End 

The North End (see Plate II), though now bereft of many of the 
landmarks that once gave it an antique flavor and a peculiar charm to 
seekers of things old and historic, is yet a quarter to which the much- 
worn term " unique " may justly be applied. There still remain a few 
landmarks of great interest, and " historic sites " abound in this small 
and compact district. The first "court end" of the town, where the 
gentry had their fine mansions beside the many quaint humbler houses 
of the early Colonial period, it is now the foreign quarter of the city, 
with foreign signs in dingy shops and a swarming population of Rus- 
sians, Armenians, Israelites, Norwegians, Poles, Italians saluting our 
ears with a jargon of tongues. 



GREEN DRAGON TAVERN 



55 



We approach the North End by way of Hanover Street, which runs 
from Scollay Square to the Chelsea Ferry on the water front. 

At Union Street, the cross street next below Washington Street 
extension, we come to two historic sites of first importance. One is 
the site of the Green Dragon Tavern, the "headquarters of the Revo- 
lution." This stood on Union Street, a few steps off from the left side 
of Hanover Street. The spot is marked by a business building, on the 
face of which is an old effigy of the tavern sign, — a sheet-copper, 
green-painted representation of a creature of j^^ 

forked tongue and curled tail, couched upon 
an iron crane projecting over the entrance 
door of No. 84. The tavern existed from 
1680 or thereabouts, through colonial, pro- 
vincial, and Republican days, till the eighteen 
twenties, when the lane which bore its name 
was widened to form the present street. The 
Union tunnel station is now here. 




It was at the Green Dragon that the prerevo- 
lutionary leaders held their secret councils and 
formed their plans of campaign. Here the Tea 
Party originated. It was the rendezvous of the 
night patrol of Boston Mechanics, instituted to keep 
watch upon the British and Tory movements. It 
was the chief meeting place of the " North End 
Corcus," one of the three clubs composed of patriot 
leaders and followers, which added the word 
"caucus " to our political nomenclature. It was also the first Free Masons' hall, 
the pioneer St. Andrews Lodge having been organized here in 1752, and in 1769 
the first Grand Lodge of the Province, with Dr. Joseph Warren as Grand Master 
and Paul Revere a subordinate officer. 

The other site is that of Josiah Franklin's dwelling and chandlery shop, 
at "the sign of the Blue Ball," the boyhood home of Benjamin Franklin, 
where he worked for his father at candle-making and tended the 
shop. Near by was the " salt marsh " by the Mill Pond, on the edge of 
which he fished for minnows. The "Blue Ball" stood near the south- 
east comer of the junction of Union and Hanover streets. It held its 
place till the middle of the nineteenth century, when it was demolished 
in the widening of Hanover Street at this point. Its site is included in 
the street way. 

A stone's throw up Union Street (eastward) MarshaWs Lane (now 
officially called street) opens from the left side, — one of the alleys or 
"short cuts" of old Boston, through which we must pass. It will bring 



56 "BOSTON STONE, 1737" 

us back to Hanover Street close to the cross street next below Union 
Street. 

As we enter Marshall's Lane from Union Street we cannot fail to 
notice the low-browed brick building of eighteenth-century fashion 
which occupies the upper comer of the lane and street. This is inter- 
esting as the place where Benjamin Thompson of Woburn, who became 
Sir Benjamin Thompson and then Count Rumford, was a clerk or 
apprentice in his youth in Hopestill Capen's shop, selling imported 
stuffs to the fashionable folk of the provincial town. At the outbreak 
of the Revolution the Massachusetts Spy, afterward of Worcester, was 
printed on the upper floor of this building. 

Soon our lane makes a junction with another, — Creek Lane, which 
originally led to the Mill Creek, where is now Blackstone Street, as 
Marshall's Lane first led to the Mill Bridge across the creek. Here we 
see set against the base of a building a rough piece of stone with a 
spherical one on top of it marked "Boston Stone, 1737." This is only 
the relic of a paint mill which a painter brought out from England 
about 1700 and used in his shop close by. Perhaps he was Tom Child 
by name, to whom Sewall alludes in his diaiy : "Nov. 10, 1706. This 
morning Tom Child the Painter died." The monument was set up 
here some time after the painter's day, in imitation of the London Stone, 
to serve as a direction for shops in the neighborhood. A similar guide 
post, called the Union Stone, stood for some years at the entrance of 
the lane by Hopestill Capen's shop. In the front of the building at 
the outlet of the lane, on Hanover Street, is a carved reproduction of 
the London Painters' Guild, which is said to have been the sign of the 
painter who used the " Boston Stone." 

Opposite this monument we see, in the worn old structure on the 
comer of Creek Lane, the office of Ebenezer Hancock (brother of John 
Hancock), deputy paymaster general of the Continental army, where 
were deposited the funds in French crowns brought out by d'Estaing 
from America's ally, the king of France, which went to pay the arrears 
of the officers of the Continental line. The block beyond, facing Creek 
Lane, is a remnant of " Hancock Row," built for stores by John Hancock 
after the peace. 

Again on Hanover Street, we cross to the other side and enter Sa/em 
Street, which starts off obliquely from Hanover Street and then runs 
parallel with it. Now we are fairly within the North End. It is a curious 
street, with strange denizens. In early Colony days it was fair Green 
Lane, upon which it was the dream of prospering Bostonians to live. 
At the comer of Stillman Street is the site of the first Baptist meeting- 
house, erected in 1679, on the border of the open Mill Pond then on this 



IN AND ABOUT NORTH SQUARE 57 

side. This was the meetinghouse which was closed against the pro- 
scribed sect and its doors nailed up in 1680 by order of the court; 
when the undaunted society held their services in the meetinghouse 
yard. Its descendant is the present First Baptist Church on Common- 
wealth Avenue, Back Bay. Prince Street^ intersecting Salem Street mid- 
way, preserves more of the old-time aspect than other streets of the 
quarter. This street (first in part Black Horse Lane) was the direct 
way from the North End to the Charlestown ferry (where is now the 
Charlestown Bridge), and after the battle of Bunker Hill numbers of 
the wounded British were brought here to houses which were turned 
into temporary hospitals. The most important of these emergency hos- 
pitals was a fine new house near the lower end of Prince Street at the 
comer of Lafayette Street. This remained until the end of the nine- 
teenth century, being occupied for some years by a grandson of one of 
the Boston Tea Party. Another on Prince Street, nearer Salem Street, 
was recently removed, the so-called Stoddard house, a narrow dwelling 
(No. 130). It is said that Majoi- Pitcairn was brought to this house 
and died here from his wounds. On the westerly corner of Prince and 
Margaret streets was the house where long \\\Q.&John Tiieston, the school 
master, the rigid but beloved master for two thirds of a century of the 
oldest North End school, which became the Eliot School. 

In and about North Square. Taking Prince Street at the right we 
cross Hanover Street and enter North Square. This squalid trian- 
gular inclosure was the central point of the North End in its " elegant " 
days, when it was adorned wnth trees and dignified by neighboring 
mansions. It is now the heart of the Italian colony. At its outlet 
upon North Street is the one landmark here of historic value. This is 
the little low house of wood, hedged in by ambitious modem structures, 
marked as the home of Paul Revere. It was the versatile patriot's 
dwelling from about 1770 through the Revolution and until 1800, when, 
having prospered in his foundry, he bought a finer house on Charter 
Street near by and there spent the remainder of his days. This North 
Square house was old when Revere moved into it from his earlier home 
on North Street (then Fish Street). It was built soon after the great 
fire of 1676 in place of Increase Mather's house, the parsonage of the 
North Church, which went down with the meetinghouse in that 
disaster. 

It was in the upper windows of this North Square house that on the evening 
of the Boston Massacre Revere displayed those awful illustrated pictures 
which, we read, struck the assembly of spectators " with solemn silence," while 
" their countenances were covered with a melancholy gloom." And well might 
they have shuddered. In the middle window appeared a realistic view of the 



53 OLD NORTH CHURCH 

" massacre." In the north window was shown the " Genius of Liberty," a sitting 
figure holding aloft a liberty cap and trampling under foot a soldier hugging a 
serpent, the emblem of military tyranny. In the south window was an obelisk 
displaying the names of the five victims, in front of which was a bust of the boy 
Snider, killed a few days before the " massacre " in a struggle before a Tory shop 
which had been "marked" as one not to be patronized; and behind the bust a 
shadowy, gory figure, with these lines beneath : 

Snider's pale ghost fresh bleeding stands 
And Vengeance for his death demands. 

Just beloAV this house, at about the comer of North and Richmond 
streets, stood the Red Lion Inn of early Colony days, kept by Nicholas 
Upsall, befriender of the proscribed Quakers, — the " Upsall gray with 
his length of days" of the "King's Missive," — who suffered banish- 
ment and imprisonment for his friendly acts. On Richmond Street 
was the birthplace of Charlotte Cushman (bom iSi6), whose name is 
perpetuated in the Cushman School near by. 

At the head of the square, on the north side, is the site of the Old 
North Church, which the British pulled down and used for firewood 
during the Siege. It stood between Garden Court and Moon streets. 
It was the second meetinghouse of the Second Church in Boston 
(instituted in 1649), built upon the ruins of the first one, bumed in the 
fire of 1676. It became popularly known as the Church of the Mathers, 
from Increase, Cotton, son of Increase, and Samuel, son of Cotton 
Mather, successively its ministers. In the prerevolutionary period /i>/i« 
Lathrop, a stanch patriot, was its minister, and it was the church which 
Revere attended. 

After the Revolution the lot upon which it had stood was set apart for the 
dwelling of Mr. Lathrop (who continued the minister till his death in 1816), 
and the society acquired the " New Brick Church " in the near neighborhood 
on Hanover Street, the successor of which was the Cockerel Church, ?,o called 
from a copper weathercock which crowned its steeple — still another piece of 
"Deacon" Shem Browne's clever work — and is now still doing service on the 
steeple of the Shepard Memorial Church in Cambridge. Mr. Lathrop's house 
on the old church lot was large and comfortable in appearance, with a row of 
poplars in the front yard, and on the Moon Street corner a weeping willow. 
These were all blown down in the destructive September gale of 18 15. 

The latest descendant of the Old North is now the striking architectural 
feature of Audubon Circle in the " New Back Bay " (see p. 95). Ralph 
Waldo Emerson was minister of the Second Church from 1829 to 1832. 

In Garden Court Street stood the stately mansion of Governor Thomas 
Hutchinson (his birthplace), which was sacked and partly destroyed 
with much of its contents by the anti-Stamp-Act mob on the night of 



CHRIST CHURCH AND COPP'S HILL 59 

August 26, 1765. It was a house of generous proportions, built of 
brick, painted "stone color," and set in ample grounds, the garden 
extending on one side to Fleet Street and back to Hanover Street. 
The interior was rich in finish and adornments. It is well pictured, 
although with fanciful touches, in Lydia Maria Child's early his- 
torical romance, " The Rebels, A Tale of the Revolution," published 
in 1852. It was here that Hutchinson wrote his "History of 
Massachusetts." 

The first volume was published in 1764. When the house was pillaged the 
second volume lay in the rich library in manuscript almost ready for the press. 
It was thrown out with other precious books and papers, and " left lying in the 
street for several hours in a soaking rain." But most fortunately all but a few 
sheets were carefully collected and saved by the Rev. Andrew Eliot, minister of 
the " New North " Church, living near by on Hanover Street, and the author 
was enabled to transcribe the whole and publish it two years later. 

Hutchinson and his family made their hurried escape from the house just 
before the mob reached it, finding refuge in neighboring dwellings. Hutchinson 
was first harbored in Samuel Mather's house on Moon Street, but was obliged to 
seek another refuge to avoid the threatening mob. 

Also occupying Garden Court Street with the Hutchinson house, and 
of similar elegance, was the Clark-Frankland mansion, so called from 
William Clark, a rich merchant who built it, and Sir Harry Fratikland, 
who afterward lived in it. J. Fenimore Cooper pictured this house in 
" Lionel Lincoln," in his description of the residence of " Mrs. Lech- 
mere," which he placed on Tremont Street ; and Edwin L. Bynner por- 
trayed it in his novel of "Agnes Surriage." Both of these mansions 
Imgered in picturesque decay till the thirties of the nineteenth century, 
when the Bell Alley entrance to the square was widened into Prince 
Street. 

During the Siege North Square was a military rendezvous with bar- 
racks for the soldiers, their officers occupying the comfortable dwellings 
about it. The building on the east side by Moon Street, now an Italian 
church, was originally "• Father Taylor's Bethel,"" a sailors' church, built 
in the early part of the nineteenth century, long conducted by the Rev. 
Edward T. Taylor, one of nature's orators and a bom minister to 
seafaring men. 

Christ Church and Copp's Hill. Now we return to Salem Street, cross- 
ing Hanover Street and passing through North Bennet or Tileston Street, 
either of which will bring us close to Christ Church and Copp's Hill, 
the predominating historic features of the North End to-day. As we 
cross Hafiover Street we should give a glance at a little low house 
crowded back from the street line (a second story and roof above a 



6o 



CHRIST CHURCH 



projecting store) on the west side, just below North Bennet Street. 
This is a remnant of the Mather-Eliot house built in 1677 by Increase 
Mather after the fire in North Square (see p. 57), and occupied by him 

till his death in 1723; and afterward long the home of Andrew Eliot 
and his son, John Eliot, ministers successively of the 
New North Church. On iVorth Bennet Street vi2iS the 
first grammar school in the north part of the town, 
established in 17 13, and on Tileston Street (named 
for the old schoolmaster) , the first writing school, begun 
in 17 18. This street was at that time Love Lane, so 
called not from sentiment but from a family by the 
name of Love who owned property about it. The fine 
municipal buildings now occupying North Bennet 
Street are the North End Branch Library and the 
public Bath House and Gymnasium. 

Christ Church is the oldest church edifice now 
standing in Boston, older by six years than the Old 
South, and by thirty years than King's Chapel. It 
was the second Episcopal church established in 
Boston. The comer stone was laid in April, 1723, 
when the Rev. Samuel Myles, then rector of King's 
Chapel, officiated, accompanied, says the record, "by 
the gentlemen of his congregation." The ceremony 
closed with the prayer, " May the gates of Hell never 
prevail against it." It was certainly built well to 
withstand the assaults of time. The stone side walls 
are two and a half feet thick, and the construction 
throughout is substantial. The bricic tower is of four 
floors. The first spire was described as the "most 
elegant in the town." That was blown down in a 
gale in October, 1S05, but the present one, erected 
three years later, is said to be a faithful copy of it, 
]) reserving its proportions and symmetr)'. This tower 
lias additional interest in that it was made from a 
model by Bulfinch. The tower chimes of eight 
bells, still the most melodious of any in the city, 
were first hung in 1744. Each bell has an inter- 
esting inscription. 
The tablet on the tower front bears this familiar legend : The signal 

lanterns of Paul Revere displayed in the steeple 0/ this church April 18, 

^775-> warned the country of the march of the British troops to Lexington 

atid Concord, 



Christ Church, 
Salem Street 



CHRIST CHURCH 6i 

This tablet was set in 1878, the statement it conveys being substan- 
tiated by several local historical authorities. Other recognized authori- 
ties, chief among them Richard Frothingham, the historian of the Siege 
of Boston, place these signal lanterns on the tower of the true Old 
North Church — the meetinghouse in North Square which the British 
destroyed. That Gage witnessed the battle of Bunker Hill from this 
tower is an undisputed statement. 

The interior of the church retains much of the old-time aspect. 
Among the mural ornaments is Houdon's bust of Washington, the first 
monumental effigy of Washington set up in the country. It was placed 
here OJily ten years after Washington's death. The figures of the cher- 
ubim in front of the organ and the brass chandeliers, destined originally 
for a Canadian convent, were given to the church in 1758 by the master 
of an English privateer, who captured them from a French ship on the 
high seas. An ancient "Vinegar Bible" and the old prayer books are 
still in use. The silver communion service includes several pieces bear- 
ing the royal arms, which were gifts from George II in 1733, at the 
instance of the royal Governor Belcher. The clock below the rail has 
been in place since 1746. 

Beneath the tower are old tombs. In one of them Major Pitcaim 
was temporarily buried. Some years later, when his monument was 
erected in Westminster Abbey and his English relatives sent for his 
remains, a box said to contain them was duly forwarded, but the 
grewsome tale is told that the sexton was not sure of his identification. 
In 1912 the church was restored to its ancient appearance, and Bishop 
Lawrence became rector. It is open to visitors. 

A block above, at the comer of Salem and Sheafe streets, is the site 
of the home of Robert Newman. He w'as the sexton of Christ Church 
in 1775 who, according to the tradition that its steeple was the place 
of the Revere signals, hung them out at the instance of John Puling, a 
warden of the church, and in Revere's confidence. At the time British 
officers were quartered in this house upon the Newman family. It 
stood until 1889. Near by, on Sheafe Street, was the birthplace of the 
Rev. Samuel F. Smith, author of " America." 

Up Hull Street, opening directly opposite Christ Church, a few steps 
bring us to the main gate of Copp's Hill Burying Ground, — a mob of 
youthful guides of both sexes and various nationalities pressing us along 
the way, rattling off with glib tongue the " features " of the region, and 
offering to show them, all and several, for a nickel. Hull Street per- 
petuates the name of John Hull, the maker of the pine-tree shillings. 
It was originally cut through Hull's pasture (in 1701), and the land for 
it was given by his daughter Hannah and Judge Sewall, her husband, 



62 COPP'S HILL 

on the happy condition that it should retain this name " forever." Of 
the few old houses permitted to remain here, but one need engage our 
attention. This one is on the south side, distinguished from its neigh- 
bors in standing endwise to the street. It is the Galloupe, or Gallop, 
house, so called, dating from 1722, which Gage's staff made their head- 
quarters during the battle of Bunker Hill. The Gallops who occupied 
it through two generations were lineal descendants of Captain John 
Gallop, the earliest pilot in Boston Harbor, among the " first comers " 
of 1630, for whom Gallop's Island in the harbor is named. He also lived 
in the North End, " near the shore, where his boat could ride safely at 
anchor." 

In the Copp's Hill of to-day we see only a small remnant of the 
original eminence, the northernmost of the three hills of the penin- 
sula upon which Boston was planted. It now consists of an embank- 
ment left after cuttings of the hill, protected on its steepest sides by a 
high stone wall. At the time of the battle of Bunker Hill, when its 
summit was occupied by the British battery whose shot, under the 
direction of Burgoyne and Clinton, set Charlestowm on fire, it termi- 
nated abruptly on the northwest side, opposite Charlestown, in a high 
cliff. 

This battery stood near the southwest corner of the burying ground on land 
afterward cut down. Perhaps its site was the same as that of the windmill of a 
century earlier, brought over from Cambridge and set up here in 1653, to "grind 
the settlers' corn," thereby giving the hill its first name of " Windmill Hill." It 
got its name of Copp's from William Copp, an industrious cobbler, one of the 
first settlers, who owned a house and lot on its southeast corner near Prince 
Street. 

The burying ground, which now goes under the general name of 
Copp's Hill, really comprises four cemeteries of different periods : the 
North Burial Ground (established in 1660, the same year as the Granary 
Burying Ground); the Hull Street (1707); the New North (1809); and 
the Charter Street (1819). The oldest section is the northeasterly part 
of the inclosure. It is the largest of the historic burying grounds of 
the city, and is especially cherished as a picturesque breathing place in 
a squalid quarter, as well as for its associations. 

Among the noted graves or tombs which we may find here are those 
of the Revs. Increase, Cotton, and Samuel Mather ; of Nicholas Upsall, 
the persecuted friend of the Quakers ; Deacon Siiem Drowne, the 
" cunning artificer " ; the Rev. Jesse Lee, early preacher of Methodism 
in Boston, his first church being the Common, w^here Whitefield had 
preached fifty years before ; the Rev. Francis W. P. Greenwood, rector 
of King's Chapel 1 824-1 843; and Edmund Hartt, the builder of the 



COPP'S HILL 63 

frigate Constitution. The tomb of the Mathers is near the Charter 
Street gate. A large memorial stone with bullet marks on its face 
attracts attention. It stands, as the inscription states, above the "stone 
grave ten feet deep," of " Capt. Daniel Malcom, mercht, who departed 
this life October 23d 1769 aged 44 years: a true Son of Liberty, a 
Friend to the Public, an Enemy of Oppression, and One of the foremost 
in opposing the Revenue Acts in America." This stone was a favorite 
target with the British soldiers quartered in the neighborhood during 
the Siege, and the bullet marks were made by them. Another stone, 
which stands toward the northwest angle of the ground, is also curiously 
marked. This commemorates " Capt Thomas Lake, aged 61 yeeres, an 
eminently faithful servant of God & one of a public spirit," who was 
"perfidiovsly slain by ye Indians at Kennibeck, Avgvst ye 14th 1676, 
& here interred the 13 of March follo\ving." A deep slit is across its 
face, into which the bullets taken from the captain's body were poured 
after being melted. The lead was long ago all chipped out by vandals. 
Captain Lake was a commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artil- 
lery Company in 1662 and 1674. Near the middle of the ground is the 
triple gravestone of George Worthylake, first keeper of Boston Light 
in the harbor, his wife and their daughter, all drowned while coming up 
to town in his boat one day in 17 18 — the mournful event that inspired 
Franklin's boyhood ballad of "The Lighthouse Tragedy" (see p. 17). 
A notable monument is to Major Samuel Shaw, a Revolutionary sol- 
dier, ancestor of Robert Gould Shaw. There are a number of vaults 
bearing sculptured slabs and heraldic devices. 

Here, as in the other old burying grounds, acts of vandalism have 
been committed in the past in the removal of several stones from their 
proper places, while sacrilegious hands have changed the dates on some 
tablets by transforming a 9 into a 2, as in 1620 for 1690, or 1625 for 
1695. Others have taken stones away and utilized them in chimneys or 
drains, and two or three tombs have been desecrated by the substitution 
of other names for the rightful ones upon them. The treatment of the 
tomb of the Hutchinsons with its armorial bearings, where were deposited 
the remains of Elisha and Thomas Hutchinson, grandfather and father, 
respectively, of Governor Hutchinson, has been cited 1 as a flagrant case 
of this sort. In place of Hutchinson has been cut the name of Lewis, 
while the honored dust of these Hutchinsons is said to have been 
"scattered before the four winds of heaven." It appears, however, 
from researches made in 1906 by a loyal descendant of Thomas Lewis, 
that this tomb was duly sold to him in 1807 by a granddaughter of 
Thomas Hutchinson, the deed of record bearing the signature of 
1 Bridgman's " Memorials of the Dead in Boston," 1852. 



64 



COPP'S HILL TERRACES 



Hannah (Mather) Crocker, a daughter of Rev. Samuel Mather and his 
wife, Thomas Hutchinson's daughter. It further appears that the 
Hutchinson bones lay in a corner of the tomb till between 1824 and 
1825, when a grandson of Thomas Lewis caused them to be placed in 
a suitable box. Thomas Lewis was a deacon of the Second Church. 

A corner of the inclosure by Snowhill Street was originally used for 
the burial of slaves. Near the Charter Street gate was the " Napoleon 
willow," grown from a slip from the tree at Napoleon's grave. 

Copp's Hill Terraces, back of the burying ground, on Charter Street, 
extending down to Commercial Street, with the North End Park and 

Beach on the w'ater 
front beyond, finish 
up rarely this fine 
open space. The 
terraces and the park 
are parts of the be- 
neficent Boston City 
Parks System. 

"With a short stroll 
along Charter Street 
back to Hanover 
Street and across to 
the water front, our 
survey of the North 
End finishes. Charter 
Street got its name in 
1708 from the Prov- 
ince Charter of 1692. Before that the street was a lane, and the lane 
was associated with the Colony Charter, for it is said that that docu- 
ment was hidden during the troublous days of 1681 in the house of 
John Foster, which stood at the corner of this and Foster Lane (now 
Street). On the westerly comer of Charter and Salem streets Sir 
Williayn Phips, the first royal governor, built his brick mansion house 
when he became prosperous, thus fulfilling his dream, when a poor 
ship carpenter, of some day living on " the Green Lane of North Bos- 
ton." Where is now Revere Place, off Charter Street near Hanover, 
was Paul Revere's last home. On Foster Street was his foundry. 

Taking Battery Street from Hanover Street, we pass to Atlantic 
Avenue and North Battery Wharf, the site of the North Battery. 
Constitution Wharf, the next wharf north, marks the site of Hartt's 
shipbuilding yard where "Old Ironsides" was built; also the frigate 
Boston. Lewis's Wharf, southward, opposite the foot of Fleet Street, 




North Station, Causeway Street 



THE CHARLESTOWN DISTRICT 65 

marks in part (its north side) the site of Hancock's Wharf, upon which 

were Hancock's wareliouses. 

On Atlantic Avenue we can take an elevated train at the Battery 
Street station (or surface cars, if we prefer) and return to our starting 
point at Scollay Square. 



3. The Charlestown District 

The trip to Charlestown naturally follows the exploration of the 
North End. If we start from the latter quarter, taking an elevated 
train north (Battery Street station), we change at the North Station 
station to a Sullivan Square train. If, however, we elect to go from 
the business quarters, we have a choice of various trolley hues besides 
the elevated: some in the Subway, others on the surface. The Chelsea 
cars pass by the Navy Yard. A good view of this is obtained as the 
visitor is approaching the Charlestown district. 

The elevated tracks, and surface tracks under them, pass over the 
new Charlestown Bridge (completed in 1900 ; composed of steel and 
stone; 1900 feet long, including the approaches, and 100 feet wide; 
draw operated by electricity; cost ^1,400,000; built by the city of 
Boston). Trolley lines also cross the Warren Bridge. 

All the "features" of Charlestown can be included within the com- 
pass of a short walk. Chief of them, of course, is Bunker Hill Monument. 
This is only a block from the second station of the elevated line in the 
district, — Thompson Square (the first station being City Square, at the 
end of Charlestown Bridge), — and about a ten-minute walk from City 
Square. The United States Navy Yard (established in 1800), occupying 
" Moulton's Point," the spot where the British troops landed for the 
battle, is next in popular interest. The main gale is at the junction of 
Wapping and Water streets, and Water Street opens from City Square. 
The yard is often open to visitors, admitted by passes which are to be 
obtained at the main gate. It is an inclosure of nearly ninety acres, 
attractively laid out, and with many interesting features. The marine 
museum and naval library occupy the oldest building in the grounds 
near the entrance gate. Another near-by point of interest is Winthrop 
Square (about a five-minute walk from City Square), the early Colonial 
training field, where are memorial tablets bearing the names of the 
Americans who fell in the battle of Bunker Hill ; also a Soldiers' Monu- 
ment (Civil War) by Martin Milmore, sculptor of the soldiers' monument 
on Boston Common. On Phipps Street, off Main Street, west side, 
near Thompson Square station of the elevated line, is the ancient 



66 CHARLESTOWN DISTRICT 

burying ground in which is the monument to John Harvard, the first 
benefactor of Harvard College, designed by Solomon Willard and 
erected by graduates of the college in 1828. 

City Square and "Town Hill," which rises on its west side behind 
the municipal building (the City Hall site when Charlestown was a 
separate city) are the parts in which the first settlement was made by 
the colonists in 1629. The " Great Hoiise^'' of the governor, in which 
the Court of Assistants adopted the order giving Boston its name in 
1630, stood on the west side of the square. The dwelling of Xh^ young 
minister, John Hai'vard, stood near the opening of Main Street, his 
lot extending back over the slope of "Town Hill." The ^'■spreading 
oak" beneath which the first church, which became the first church of 
Boston, was organized by Winthrop and his associates, was on the east- 
erly slope of this hill. The first '■^palisadoed'^ fort, set up in 1629 and 
lasting for more than half a century, was on its summit. The first bury- 
ing ground, where it is supposed was the grave of Jokn Haivard, all 
traces of which long ago disappeared, was near its foot, toward the 
northern end of the square. 

The Salvation Army use the church on the hill, facing Harvard 
Square, the descendant of the first meetinghouse of the Charlestown 
Church, organized in 1632. An earlier church, on the same spot, was 
from 1789 to 1 82 1 the pulpit of Rev. Jedidiah Morse, author of the first 
geography of the United States, deserving of remembrance more espe- 
cially as the father of Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the electric 
telegraph and noted in art. When his distinguished son was born, Mr. 
Morse was living temporarily in the house of a parishioner, Thomas 
Edes, the parsonage near the church being in building. This house is 
still standing, worn and dingy now but preserved as the birthplace of 
Morse. It is on Main Street (No. 201) above the Thompson Square 
station, marked with a tablet : " Here was born Samuel Finley Morse, 
27 April 1791, inventor of the electric telegraph." The room was the 
front chamber of the second story on the right of the entrance door. 
This house was the first dwelling erected after the burning of the town 
in the battle of Bunker Hill. 

Bunker Hill Monument is on Breed's Hill, where the battle was fought. 
Monument Avenue, from Main Street, leads to the principal entrance of 
the monument grounds. In the main path we are confronted by the 
spirited statue of Colonel William Prescott in bronze, representing the 
American commander repressing his impatient men, as the enemy 
advance up the hill, with the warning words : " Don't fire till I tell 
you ! Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes ! " This statue is 
by William W. Story and was erected by the Bunker Hill Monument 



BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 



67 



Association in 1881. It is inscribed simply with Prescott's name 
and the date, "June 17, 1775." It stands on or close to the spot 
where Prescott stood at the opening of the battle when he gave the 
signal to fire by waving his sword ; but the statue faces in a different 
direction. 

The obelisk occupies the southeast comer of the American redoubt, 
and its sides are parallel with those of that structure, which was about 
eight rods square. It is built in courses of granite, 
the stone coming from a quany in Quincy, whence 
it was carried to the shipping point by the first 
railroad laid in the country. It is thirty feet square 
at the base and two hunared and twenty feet high. 
Inside the shaft is a hollow cone, around which 
winds a spiral flight of stone steps, by which 
ascent is made to the top. Here is an observ- 
atory, seventeen feet high and eleven feet in 
diameter, with windows on each side. Before 
attempting the climb the visitor should consider 
the task. The steps number nearly three hundred, 
— to be exact, two hundred and ninety-five. There 
is reward, however, for the exertion when the 
summit is reached, in the magnificent view which 
it commands in every direction. 

The stone lodge at the base of the obelisk con- 
tains an interesting museum of memorials of the 
battle and a fine marble statue of General Joseph 
Warren by Henry Dexter (dedicated June 17, 
1857). The spot where Warren fell is marked by 
a low stone in the ground. 

The monument was begun in 1825, when the corner 
stone was formally laid by Lafayette, under the direction 
of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Masons, and Bt'nker Hill 

Daniel Webster delivered the oration. It remained Monument 

unfinished for nearly twenty years. Then, in 1840, 

largely through the efforts of American women, the required funds for its 
completion were raised. In July, 1842, the last stone was hoisted to its place, 
one of the workmen riding up on it and waving an American flag. When it was 
finally laid in cement the event was announced by a national salute. The com- 
pleted structure was dedicated on the 17th of June, 1843, when Webster was 
again the orator, and President Tyler with members of his cabinet was present. 
In the great throng that gathered on this occasion were a few survivors of the 
battle. The sculptor Greenough devised the monument, and Solomon Willard 
was the architect who superintended its construction. 




68 WEST END 

Bunker Hill lies to the northward of Breed's Hill, toward Charles- 
town Neck, where the Elevated line ends. Its summit, higher than 
Breed's Hill, is occupied by "Charlestown Heights," overlooking the 
Mystic River, one of the most attractive of the Boston City Parks 
System. Beyond the Mystic to the north are the cities of Chelsea and 
Everett. From the crest of Breed's Hill the view to the west includes 
the cities of Cambridge and Somerville. 

4. The West End 

The West End (see Plate I) comprises that quarter of the city which 
lies north of the Common and between Beacon, Tremont, and Court 
streets, Bowdoin Square, Green Street and so northwest to the Charles 
River, and Charles Street to Beacon Street at the foot of the Common. 
It thus includes all of Beacon Hill. It is a fading quarter now, with a 
number of old Boston institutions, some mellow old streets, others in 
hopeless decay, and numerous landmarks, especially of literary Boston. 
In its better parts it retains more distinctly than any other quarter of 
the city the genuine Boston flavor. 

The most interesting part is the Beacon Hill section. We have seen 
its southern boundary in the fine line of Beacon Street architecture 
opposite the Common from the State House to Charles .Street. Let 
us enter it, therefore, above Beacon Street, — from the State House 
Park through the archway to Mt. Vernon Street. 

Although " The Hill," as this was called in its proud days, par excel- 
lence, is not the oldest part of the West End, it has been from its 
upbuilding the choicest, and accordingly its associations are the richest. 
Up to the Revolution it was largely a region of fields and pastures. 
Until near the opening of the nineteenth century there were but two 
houses on the Beacon Street slope west of the Hancock mansion. The 
greater part of the territory below the Hancock holdings was the domain 
of John Singleton Copley, the painter (after his fortunate marriage), from 
about 1769 to 1795. The bounds of this "farm," as Copley called it, 
although it w^as chiefly pasture land, are indicated generally by the 
present Mt. Vernon and Pinckney streets on the north. Walnut Street on 
the east, the Common south, and the Charles River west. It included 
the homestead lot of the first European settler, William Blaxton, — he 
who was here before the Winthrop company, — with the "excellent 
spring " of which he " acquainted " the governor when he invited him 
hither. It was the acquisition of the Hancock pasture for the new 
State House, — the Bulfinch Front, — in 1795, that gave the impulse to 
the development in this quarter. Then a " syndicate " purchased the 



HANCOCK, MT. VERNON, AND JOY STREETS 69 

Copley estate at a bargain (Copley was at that time living in England), 
and in the course of a few years these now old streets appeared, built 
up substantially, in place of the Copley pastures and adjoining proper- 
ties. A half-century after it was remarked that on " the Copley estate 
live, or have lived, a large proportion of those most distinguished among 
us for intellect and learning or for enterprise, wealth and public spirit." 

On Mt. Vernon Street from the archway we are passing through what 
were the Hancock gardens. Hancock Street, coming up the hillside at 
our right, is the oldest of the streets here. It originally ran by the side 
of the peak of Beacon Hill over to the Common. It was given the 
governor's name in 1788. Near its foot, on the east side, is the Sumner 
house (No. 20) in which Charles Sumner lived from 1830 to 1867. Along 
the same side, extending from Derne Street nearly up to Mt. Venion 
Street, stood from 1849 to 1S84 the Beacon Hill Reservoir, a massive 
granite structure with lofty arches piercing its front walls, notable as 
a superior piece of architecture. Its service as a distributing reservoir 
closed some time before its removal, clearing the way for the State 
House E.xtension. 

Joy Street, the first to cross Mt. Vernon, is next to Hancock Street in 
age. It used to be Belknap Street, the principal way to the negro quar- 
ters on the north slope of the hill. Midway in its descent to Cambridge 
Street a dingy court opens, Smith by name, in which is a landmark of 
antislavery days. This is the brick meetinghouse erected for the first 
African church (built in 1806), now a Jewish synagogue, which was used 
for abolition meetings. It was after a meeting held here on the evening 
of December 3, i860, commemorating the execution of John Brown, that 
Wendell Phillips was assisted to his home, then on Essex Street, by a 
volunteer guard of forty young men with locked arms, pressed closely by 
a threatening mob. At the fairer end of this street, near Beacon Street, 
is the Diocesan House (i Joy Street), the headquarters of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church. Here are the offices of various church organiza- 
tions, the parlors of the Episcopal Church Association, and the library. 
Next above (No. 3) is the building of the Twentieth Century Club, which 
concerns itself with many reforms, and of the Massachusetts Civic League. 

As we proceed along Mt. Vernon Street, which grows in old-fashioned 
stateliness as it advances over the hill, we come upon a succession of 
houses with an interesting past. No. 49. on the north side, was long 
the home of Lemuel Shaw, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme 
Judicial Court for thirty years (1S30-1860). Its near neighbor (No. 53), 
now the house of the General Theological Library, was once the dwelling 
of a merchant of distinction. The library which has succeeded it is 
an unsectarian institution established since i860, for the purpose of 



7© WEST END 

"promoting religious and theological learning," having a collection of 
22,000 volumes and some 5,000 pamphlets. 

It is a special library of standard and current theological books, that term 
being used m its broad sense to cover works on sociology, philosophy, comparative 
religions, and archaeological research. Its books are free to all New England 
clergymen ; and beyond " Greater Boston " they are furnished through the local 
pubUc libraries. 

The head of the stately row of houses beyond, set back thirty feet 
from the street (No. 57), was the town house of Charles Francis Adams, 
St., during the latter years of his life. The next one in this row (No. 
59), with its classic doorway, is most interesting as the last home of 
Thomas Bailey Aldrich, and associated with his ripest work. No. 65, 
transformed into an apartment house, so, unhappily, breaking the sym- 
metry of the row, was formerly the home of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, 
where some of his most notable historical writing was done. No. 79 
was the home of Horace Gray during his long service on the Supreme 
bench of the State as justice and chief justice, before he was made a 
justice of the United States Supreme Court. The last house of the 
row (No. 83) was the last Boston home of William Ellery Channing, 
whose study here was the " Mecca of all sorts and conditions of men." 

On the opposite side of the street the ornate brownstone houses with 
lofty entrances, now the Theological School of Boston University, were 
hospitable mansions erected in the fifties of the last century by the 
brothers John E. and Nathaniel Thayer, eminent merchants of their 
time and benefactors of Harvard University. No. 76, just below, was 
the home of Margaret Deland for a number of years, during the period 
marked by her " Philip and His Wife." No. 88, on the lower comer of 
little Willow Street (which connecting, nearly, with another httle street 
across Chestnut Street provides a " short cut " to the Common), was 
once the home of Enoch Train, the projector of the Hne of fast clipper 
ships to Liverpool, fine craft which came into successful competition 
with the early ocean steamships. He was the father of Afrs. A. D. T. 
Whitney of Milton, the favorite writer of girls' stories. No. 92 was the 
home and studio of Anne Whitney during the years that she was model- 
ing some of her most notable statues —the Samuel Adams (see p. 15) 
and the Leif Ericson (see p. 79) among them. 

Loidsbiirg Square, with its inclosed park of lofty trees and diminutive 
Italian marble statues of Aristides and Columbus at either end, sug- 
gestive of old London residential squares, connects Mt. Vernon with 
Pinckney Street, the latter with an air of shabby gentility yet borne with 
decorum. Blaxton's spring is believed to have been in the middle of 



PINCKNEY STREET 71 

this square. The point is disputed by local historians, the popular 
location being in Spring Lane, north of the Old South Meetinghouse; 
but the evidence in support of the Louisburg Square situation is 
accepted as conclusive by most authorities. The matter, however, is 
not of moment, for the town was full of springs when Blaxton 
''solicited" Winthrop hither. 

Blaxton's orchard spread back up the hill slope toward this square. His 
homestead lot of six acres, reserved after his sale of the whole peninsula to the 
colonists for thirty pounds, occupied the northwesterly slope of the hill, bounded 
southerly toward the Common and westerly on Charles River, the water's edge 
then b^'ing at the present Charles Street. His cottage, with its rose garden, was 
on the hill slope toward the Common, between the present Spruce and Charles 
streets. He moored his boat on the river, presumably at a point which jutted out 
from the bluff in which the hill ended, on the Charles Street side. 

At No. 10 Louisburg Square was the last Boston home of Louisa M. 
Alcott, where her remarkable father, A. Bronson Alcott, died (1S8S) in 
his eighty-ninth year; her own death following the day of his funeral. 
No. 4 was the home of William D. Howells in the late eighteen-seventies, 
when he was a Bostonian editing the Atlantic. No. 20 is interesting as 
the house where Jennie Lind was married in 1852. 

On the upper corner of the square and Pinckney Street are the main 
house and the chapel of the Sisterhood of St. Margaret, Protestant 
Episcopal, where is St. Margaret's Hospital, one of the most worthy 
institutions of the city. At No. 5, this side, lived John Gorham Palfrey, 
the historian, in the eighteen-sixties. 

Fjnck/uy Street extends from Joy Street to the river, with but two 
streets crossing it. At the upper end was for forty years the home of 
Edwin P. Whipple, the essayist : the plain brick house, No. 11. Lower 
down, on the opposite side, the house No. 20 was the home of the 
Alcott family in the fifties of the last century, the scene of Louisa M. 
Alcott's early struggle in authorship mingled with domestic occupations. 
At No. 54, nearly opposite the opening of Anderson Street, was the 
early home of George S. Hillard, lawyer, critic, essayist, remembered 
especially through his " Hillard's Readers" of the mid eighteen-fifties. 
From this house Ha7vthorne in 1842 wrote his little note to the Rev. 
James Freeman Clarke requesting "the greatest favor which I can 
receive from any man," — the performance of the ceremony of his 
marriage to Sophia Peabody. Ilillard lived for a much longer period 
at No. 62. On the lower slope of the street, below the square, at 
No. 84, was the first Boston home of Aldrich after his marriage, where 
Longfellow got the inspiration for " The Hanging of the Crane." The 
" Story of a Bad Boy" issued from this house. 



72 WEST END 

On Mt. Vernon Street again we may see just below West Cedar Street 
the first home of Margaret Deland in this quarter (No. 112), where her 
earHer books were written ; and nearly opposite, at No. 99, the home of 
John C. Ropes, in his day the authority on Napoleonic literature. 

l^y Jilst Ceda?' Street we cross to Chestnut Street, possessing in its 
entirety, perhaps, more of the old Boston flavor than the other streets of 
" The Hill." In the short block of West Cedar Street through which 
we pass, we may note on one side a house (No. 11) once used by Per- 
cival Lowell, the astronomer and producer of notable books ; on the 
other (No. 3) the former home of Henry C. Merwin, the essayist and literary 
authority on the American horse and the dog, and, at an earlier period, of 
the poet T.W. Parsons, with his brother-in-law George Lunt; and, atNo. i, 
the home of the Harvard Musical Association, organized in 1837 "to pro- 
mote the progress and knowledge of the best music," and since its estab- 
lishment a leading factor in the development of musical culture in Boston. 

Up Chestnut Street on one side and down on the other we shall 
pass a series of historic houses. No. 50, on the south side, was the 
town house of Francis Parkman, from 1864 until his death (1893) identi- 
fied with the most of his historical work in the preparation of his 
" France and England in North America." No. 43, nearly opposite, 
was for upwards of forty years the town house of Richard H. Dana, Sr., 
the poet; here he died (1896) at ninety-one. A little way above, the 
house presenting a side bay to the street (No. 29) was the sometime home 
of Edwin Booth, the actor. Higher up the street a group of three houses 
(Nos. 17, 15, and 13) arrest attention as examples of the best type of 
early nineteenth-century domestic architecture. The first was the long- 
time home of Cyrus A. Bartol, the " poet preacher " and essayist ; the sec- 
ond was the ancestral home of Dr. B. Joy Jeffries ; the third was for some 
years the home of Rev. John T. Sargent, the meeting place of the Radical 
Clnb, renowned in its day, which came after the Transcendental Club of 
wider fame. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe also lived some years in this house. 

On IVabiut Street, where Chestnut Street ends, — or, more properly, 
begins, — was the historian Motley's boyhood home, in a pleasant house 
" looking down Chestnut Street," now replaced by a more modern 
dwelling. At 8 Walnut Street was Parkman's earlier house, from which 
he removed to 50 Chestnut Street. 

Returning now to the foot of the hill and taking the recently widened 
Charles Street northward, we should notice at Mt. Vernon Street the 
pleasing restoration (1922) of the brick church. When it was built 
for a Baptist congregation early in the nineteenth century, the river 
came up to its western side. It is now used by the First African 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Nearer the river, at the corner of Brimmer 



RIVERBANK 



73 



Street is the Church of the Advent (Protestant Episcopal), in the early 
English style of architecture. 

The old literary homes of Charles Street were near together toward 
Cambridge Street, but have mostly disappeared. Among the authors 
who lived here were Holmes, Aldrich, and James T. Fields. 

The cross streets, Chestnut, Mt. Vernon, Pinckney, and Revere, lead 
to the Embankment, the beautiful Esplanade along the Charles River 
basin, a favorite promenade. 

This basin, now protected from the tide by the Charles River Dam, 
where stood the old Craigie Bridge, immortalized in Longfellow's poem 
" Th& Bridge," fur- 
nishes an ideal place 
for all kinds of water 
sports. In winter the 
basin freezes over, 
and skating and ice- 
boating are given 
their turn. The Met- 
ropolitan Park Com- 
mission controls 
many miles along 
the Charles River. 
Drives or walks by 
its banks are main- 
tained in many places. 
The aspects of Bos- 
ton and Cambridge, 
either from the em- 
bankments about, or from the bridges over, this lower basin are of the 
greatest interest at all hours and at all seasons. In summer no visitor 
should miss taking one of the motor launches that leave at frequent 
intervals from the landing at the foot of Chestnut Street and make at 
least the circuit of the lower basin. The ornamental Cambridge Bridge of 
steel and masonry, finished in 1907 (Edmund M. Wheelright, architect), 
replaces the historic West Boston Bridge. The finely designed building 
on the Chestnut Street corner, facing the Esplanade, is the clubhouse 
of the Union Boat Club, an organization dating back to 185 1. 

Across Cambridge Street is the Charlesbank, the pleasant park along 
the river front between the Cambridge Bridge and the Dam. It is espe- 
cially designed for the poorer classes living in the neighborhood. 

The successive institutions on the opposite side of the street are the 
County Jail, generally called the Charles Street Jail, the Massachusetts 




( IIAK; l-^ I. \". Iv 



74 BACK BAY 

Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary (incorporated 1827), and the Mas- 
sachusetts General Hospital (incorporated 181 1). The latter fronts on 
Fruit Street and embraces a group of noble buildings. The oldest, or 
central building, with shapely dome and with porticoes of Ionic columns, 
was designed by Bulfijuh. In the old operating room the first successful 
operation upon a patient under the influence of ether was performed, in 
October, 1846, by Dr. \V. T. G. Motion. This event is commemorated 
by the Ether Monujtieni, so called, in the Public Garden. At Dr. Morton's 
grave in Mt. Auburn, Cambridge, is also a monument. Just at the head 
of North Grove Street was the site of the first Harvard Medical School 
building (afterward the Harvard Dental School) (see p. 92), the scene 
of the Parkmati j?iii?-der \n 1849, — the killing of Dr. George Parkman 
by Professor John W. Webster. Both were men of good social and 
professional standing, and the trial was one of the most celebrated in 
Boston. Webster was executed the following year. 

A conspicuous object of interest in this older part of the West End 
is the West Church, at the corner of Cambridge and Lynde streets, now 
the J Vest End Branch of the Public Library. It dates from 1806. Its 
predecessor was used for barracks during the Siege, and the steeple was 
taken down because it had been used in making signals to the Conti- 
nental camp at Cambridge. The present house was long the pulpit of 
Charles Lozaell (father of James Russell Lowell) and Cyms A. Bartol. 

The Society for the Preset-z'ation of N'ew England Antiquities has 
its headquarters in the recently restored Harrison Gray Otis House (1795), 
No. 2 Lynde Street. The house is open to visitors. 

5. The Back Bay 

The Public Garden, below the Common, bounded by Beacon, Charles, 
Boylston, and Arlington streets, is the gateway to the Back Bay Dis- 
trict, the modern "court end" of Boston. Commonwealth Avenue 
is its principal boulevard. Boylston Street to Copley Square and 
Huntington Avenue beyond are its southern bounds ; Beacon Street 
and Charles River its northern bounds. Copley Square is its central 
point. Massachusetts Avenue is its great western cross thoroughfare. 
To this avenue the streets of the quarter — with the exception of Hunt- 
ington Avenue, which begins at Copley Square — run parallel to or at 
right angles with Beacon Street on the Charles River side. The cross 
streets, beginning with Arlington Street, are named in alphabetical order. 
This will be seen by turning to the plan on page 8 1 . Broad thoroughfares 
and imposing architecture characterize this quarter. The streets north of 
Boylston Street between Arlington Street and Massachusetts Avenue 
are free from car tracks. Commonwealth Avenue, with its tree-lined 



BACK BAY 75 

parkway, broken here and there by statues, is two hundred feet wide, or 
two hundred and twenty feet from house to house, between Arlington 
Street and Massachusetts Avenue. It extends beyond the original limits 
of the quarter, through the Brighton district to the western boundary of 
the city at the Newton line. Huntington Avenue, with a middle green 
occupied by street-car tracks, is one hundred feet in width, or one hun- 
dred and twenty feet from house to house. It extends to the Brookline 
line. Massachusetts Avenue comes into the quarter from the Dorchester 
District, where it begins at Edward Everett Square (so named from the 
birthplace of Edward Everett, which stood at this point) and, crossing Har- 
vard Bridge, continues through Cambridge, Arlington, and Lexington. 





i^PiA. . 








.i^. 


i 


^KMBStmU^ig^ 


tta 


M 


m 




f9P| 




BSbSSS^*"— - -J- . 



Harvard Bridge 

All the territory of this district is "made land" in place of the bay 
whose name it takes, a beautiful sheet of water that made up from Charles 
River, and at flood time spread out from the present Charles Street by 
the Common to the " Neck " (the narrow stem of the original peninsula) 
and Roxbury, and toward the hills of Brookline. The Public Garden 
was the " Round Marsh," or " the marsh at the bottom of the Common." 

The filling of the bay was planned in 1852 by a state commission, the Com- 
monwealth having the right to the flats below the line of riparian ownership. At 
that time the bay was a great basin made by dams thrown across it for the utili- 
zation 01 its water power by mills on its borders. These dams were also used as 
causcways for communication between Boston and Roxbury and the western sub- 
urbs. They were the " Mill Dam," now included in lower Beacon Street ; the 
" Cross Dam," extending from the Roxbury side to the Mill Dam ; and the cause- 
way, corresponding in part with the present Brookline Avenue (earlier the Punch 
Bowl Road) , which extends from the junction of Beacon Street and Commonwealth 
Avenue southwest to the Brookline line. The filling was practically begun in 
1857 and finished in 1886. It was done by the Commonwealth and the Boston 
Water Power Company. The Commonwealth owned 108.44 acres of the territory. 
On its sales of the land remaining after large gifts to institutions, and reserva- 
tions for the city of Boston, and for streets and passageways, it made a net profit 
of upward of four million dollars. The avails of the sale were applied to educa- 
tional purposes and to the endowment of several of the sinking funds of the state. 



76 



PUBLIC GARDEN 



The Public Garden is the gem of the city parks, essentially a flower 
garden, with rich verdure, a dainty foil to the plainer Common. The 




Bridge, Public Garden 

artificial pond in the middle of the inclosure is so irregularly shaped as 
to appear extensive, although its actual area is only three and three 
quarters acres. The iron bridge which carries the main path over the 
pond has been endowed by the local wits with the title of the " Bridge 

of Size," from its ponderous piers. 
The statues and monuments here 
are: 

On the Charles Street side : 

Statue of Edward Evei-ett HaL, 

of bronze, by Bela L. Pratt. 

Erected in 19 13. The cost met 

i-"//y>^ l^^^^ s.4^^^^^ by a popular subscription. 

"^^^m^^Kk W^^^K ^'^ ^^^ Beacon Street side : the 

Ether JMoniunent, of granite and 
red marble, by J, Q. A.Ward, com- 
memorating the discovery of anaes- 
thetics. Erected in 1868. A gift 
to the city by Thomas Lee. The 
ideal figures surmounting the shaft 
illustrate the story of the Good 
Samaritan ; the marble bas-reliefs 
represent (i) a surgical operation 
in a civic hospital, the patient being 
under the influence of ether, (2) 
the angel of mercy descending to 
relieve suffering humanity, (3) 
interior of a field hospital, showing a wounded soldier in the hands of 
the surgeon, (4) an allegory of the triumph of science. 




Channing Statue 



PUBLIC GARDEN 



77 




Old Entrance to Subway, Public Garden 



On the Boylston Street side : Slatne of Chca-les Sumner^ of bronze, by 
Thomas Ball. Erected in 1878. Provided for by popular subscrip- 
tion. Statue of Colonel 
Thouias Cass (commander 
of the Ninth Regiment, 
Massachusetts Volunteers, 
in the Civil War; killed at 
Malvern Hill, Va., July i, 
1862), of bronze, by Rich- 
ard E. Brooks. Erected in 
1889. A gift to the city by 
the Society of the Ninth 
Regiment. Statue of Wen- 
dell Phillips (1811-1884), 
" Prophet of liberty, 
Champion of the Slave," 
by Daniel C. P>ench. 

On the Arlington Street side : Statue of William Ellery Chauning 
(facing the Arlington Street Church on the opposite side of the street, 
the successor of the P'ederal Street Church, which was the pulpit of 

Channing), of bronze, by Herbert 
Adams. The carved canopy, of gran- 
ite and marble, designed by Vincent 
C. Griffith, architect. Erected in 1903. 
A gift to the city by John Foster. 
On the marble columns of the can- 
opy and on the marble stone at the 
back of the monument are inscriptions. 
The equestrian statue of IVas/iiugton 
(in the main path, facing the Arlington 
Street gate), of bronze, by Thomas 
Ball. Erected in 1869. Provided for 
by popular subscription. 

The Arlington Street Church (Uni- 
tarian), which dignifies the corner of 
Arlington and Boylston streets, was 
the first church built in this quarter 
( 1 860-1 861). Its exterior design is 
broadly after old London Wren 
churches. The steeple was the first in 
Boston to be constructed entirely of stone. In its tower is a chime of 
sixteen bells. The church organization dates from 1727, and this 




Washington Statue, 
Public Garden 



78 COMMONWEALTH AVENUE 

meetinghouse was the successor of the third Federal Street Church 
building, which stood on Federal Street from 1S09 to 1S59 (see p. 53). 
and which was identified with Channing. 

On Newbury Street (the next street north opening from Arling- 
ton Street), at No. 2, is the house of the St. Botolph Club, the repre- 
sentative literary and professional club of the city, taking its name 
from St. Botolph in old Boston, England (organized in 1880; Francis 
Parkman, the historian, the first president). In its art gallery, exhibi- 
tions of new work by artists are given during the winter season. On 
the same side is the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, founded 
1780. The building, erected 191 2, is in memory of Alexander Agassiz. 
The picturesque church opposite is Emmanuel Church (Protestant Epis- 
copal). It is built of the local Roxbury conglomerate stone. The 
church organization dates from i860, and this edifice was erected 
two years later. Many alterations and additions have greatly enhanced 
its beauty. The new Leslie Lindsey Memorial Chapel (Allen and Collens, 
architects) is in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Mason, who were lost 
on the Lusitania. 

Common-wealth Avenue opens from the middle of Arlington Street, 
its parkway being directly opposite the main path of the Public Garden, 
which terminates at the Arlington Street gate. A lovely vista opens 
through the long park of beautiful trees. The succession of statues 
down the long walk are : 

Alexander Hamilton, of granite, by Dr. William Rimmer. Erected 
in 1865. A gift to the city by Thomas Lee, the same who gave the 
Ether Monument in the PubHc Garden. This was the first statue 
in the country to be cut from granite. The inscription characterizes 
Hamilton .as " orator, writer, soldier, jurist, financier. Although his 
particular province was the treasury, his genius pervaded the whole 
administration of Washington." 

Gene7-al John Glover of Marblehead, "a soldier of the Revolution," 
of bronze, by Martin Milmore. Erected in 1875. A gift to the 
city by Benjamin T. Read. The inscription details the conspicuous 
features of Glover's military service with his marine regiment of Mar- 
blehead men, notably in transporting the army across the river from 
Brooklyn to New York and across the Delaware in 1776. 

William Lloyd Garrison, a sitting figure, of bronze, by Olin L. 
Warner. Erected in 1886. The fund for this statue was raised by 
popular subscription. Beneath the chair in which the figure is seated 
lies a representation of a volume of the Liberator. The inscriptions 
are quotations of the motto of the Liberator: "Our Country is the 
World — Our Countrymen are Mankind " ; and the declaration in 



COMMONWEALTH AVENUE 



79 



Garrison's salutatory in his paper : " I am in earnest — I will not equivo- 
cate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — and I will 
be heard." 

Leif Ericson, the Norse discoverer, of the year looo; an ideal figure, 
of bronze, by Anne Whitney. Erected in i8S6. The pedestal displays 
reliefs, one representing a Norse scene, — a banqueting hall, with Leif 
returned from his voyages relating his discoveries ; the other the fabled 
Norse landing on American shores. 

Notable clubs are housed on this favored avenue. At its head, south 
side, at No. 2, is the Engineers' Club. At No. 40, nearing Berkeley 
Street, is the College Club, of graduates 
from women's colleges. 

On Berkeley Street, north of the avenue, 
at the corner of Marlborough Street, is 
the beautiful stone edifice of the First 
Church of Boston (Unitarian), fifth in 
succession from the rude little fabric of 
1632 on the present State Street (seep. 5). 
It was erected in 1868, succeeding the 
Chauncy Place (now Street) Church, in 
the business quarter, which stood for 
sixty years. William Emerson, father of 
Ralph Waldo Emerson, was the minister 
of the church (1791-1811) when that 
meetinghouse was built in 1808. Note the 
Winthrop Statue at the side of this church 
(see p. 18). 

On Berkeley Street, south, at the corner 
of Newbury Street, is the Gothic Central 
Church (Congregational Trinitarian), built 
in 1867. Like the First Church this is constructed of the Roxbury 
rubble, with sandstone trimmings. Its fine spire, two hundred and 
thirty-six feet high, is the tallest in the city. It succeeds the first meet- 
inghouse of the society, which stood on Winter Street, in the heart of 
the "down-town" shopping quarter, from 1841 to 1865. 

The only church on upper Commonwealth Avenue is the structure 
with its Florentine tower, at the western corner of Clarendon Street. 
This is the First Baptist Church, descendant of the pioneer Baptist meet- 
inghouse at the North End which the then proscribed sect built in 1679, 
and which not long after was nailed up by the court officers (see p. 57). 
This edifice was originally erected (in 1873) ^Y *^^ Brattle Square 
Church organization (Unitarian), to succeed the historic meetinghouse 




Leif Ekicson Statue 



8o COPLEY SQUARE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 

in Brattle Square {see p. 17). It was purchased by the Baptists after 
the dissolution of the Unitarian society and the sale of the church 
property by auction. The massive square stone tower, rising one hun- 
dred and seventy-six feet, with frieze of colossal bas-reliefs, gives this 
structure an especial distinction in the Back Bay architecture. The 
sculptured figures on the four sides of the frieze represent the four 
Christian eras, — baptism, communion, marriage, and death; the stat- 
ues at the angles typify the angels of the judgment blowing golden 
trumpets. These figures were cut by Italian sculptors from designs by 
Bartholdi after the stones had been set in place. 

The south corners of the avenue and Dartmouth Street are agreeably 
marked by the clubhouse of the Chilton Club, of women, and the marble 
hotel, Vendome. Farther down, on the north side, below Exeter Street, 
stands the Algonquin Clubhouse, a light stone building of striking fa9ade, 
sumptuously designed and arranged for the club's uses. The Algonquin 
(organized in 1885) is the representative business club of the city. Near 
.by, on Beacon Street, nearly opposite Exeter Street, is the University 
Clubhouse. It is especially favored by position with an outlook at the 
rear over Riverbank and the river. This club (organized in 1892), com- 
posed of college graduates resident in Boston and vicinity, is one of the 
largest of its class in the country. 

Below Exeter Street, also on the favored water side of Beacon Street, 
is the Holmes house (No. 296), the last town house of Dr. Holmes, iden- 
tified with the mellow productions of his latter years and old age, — as 
" The Poet at the Breakfast Table," " Over the Teacups," the grave 
and gay poems, " The Iron Gate," and " The Broomstick Train " on 
the advent of the trolley car. Above Exeter Street, at No. 241, was the 
latter-day home of Julia Ward Howe. 

On the axenue again, south side, just across Massachusetts Avenue, is 
the finely designed and equipped " House of the Harvard Club of Boston, 
built in 1 91 3," as the legend over its handsome entrance door informs. 

Copley Square and its Surroundings. Copley Square is at the junc- 
tion of Boylston Street, Huntington Avenue, Trinity Place, St. James 
Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. The cross streets, Berkeley and Clar- 
endon, are near its eastern boundary ; the thoroughfare of Dartmouth 
Street makes its western bound. About the square and in its immedi- 
ate neighborhood are grouped some of the most important institutions 
of the city, with noble buildings, beautiful churches, and attractive 
hotels. Bounding the square are the Public Library, which occupies 
the entire west side ; the Copley-Plaza, the Hotel Westminster, and Triti- 
ity Church on the south side ; business structures of varied architec- 
ture on the north side ; and the Old South Church which marks the 



PUBLIC LIBRARY 



northwest corner. On Boylston Street east of the square, beginning at 
Berkeley Street, are, on the north side, the A'atiiral History Mitsejim 
and the former buildings of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
At Boylston and Exeter streets west of the square is Jacob Sleeper 
Hall (dedicated March, 1908), the chief Boston University building (see 
pp. 47, 95). Through St. James Avenue one sees the commanding tower 
of the new building of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company. 
A short walk above, on Huntington Avenue, is the great building of 




Copley Square and Vicinity 

the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. From Copley Square 
Trinity Place leads directly to the Tritiity Place station of the New York 
Central Railroad for outbound trains, and Dartmouth Street leads to 
the Back Bay station of the New \'ork, New Haven & Hartford Rail- 
road. From Huntington Avenue, at the corner of Irvington Street, a 
block above the square, is the passage to the Huntington Avenue station 
of the New York Central for inward-bound trains. 

The Public Library 1 (Charles F. McKim, architect) is one of the notable 
architectural monuments of America. Opened to the public in 1895, 't is 
the third building occupied in succession by the institution, which is the 
oldest free library maintained by taxation in any city of the world. The 
exterior of the building, which is Renaissance in style, has a frontage of 
two hundred and twenty-five feet and a depth of about three hundred feet, 
and is constructed of Milford granite of a pinkish tone. On the platform 

1 This descriptive sketch of the Boston Public Library and its outstanding 
features is by Mr. Frank H. Chase, Reference Librarian. 



82 



PUBLIC LIBRARY 



in front are two heroic bronze figures representing Science and Art, by 
Bela L. Pratt. Above the main entrance are the seals of the Library, the 
City, and the State, sculptured by Augustus St. Gaudens ; in the spandrels 
of the window arches are carved the marks of thirty-three famous printers. 
The vestibule is adorned by Frederick MacMonnies' statue of Sir Harry 
Vane, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, and by three 
double bronze doors designed by Daniel Chester French. Each door con- 
tains an allegorical figure in low relief ; from left to right these figures 
symbolize Music, Poetry, Knowledge, Wisdom, Truth, and Romance. 
The low entrance hall has its vaulting decorated with mosaics bearing 

the names of Boston's 
most famous sons. On 
the right are the Infor- 
mation Office, the Open- 
Shelf Room, and the 
Government Document 
Service. Beyond are the 
Newspaper Room, with 
daily papers from every 
state in the Union and 
all the important coun- 
tries of the world, and 
the Periodical Depart- 
ment, which receives 
about fifteen hundred current magazines and contains in addition about 
twenty-five thousand bound volumes of periodicals for reference. Be- 
yond these rooms one reaches the noble interior court, at the rear of 
which are the Departments of Patents and Statistics. 

From the entrance hall opens the great stairway, with walls of 
Siena marble. At the principal landing are two great lions by Louis 
St. Gaudens, the brother of Augustus, each a memorial to a Massa- 
chusetts regiment in the Civil War. The upper part of the walls of the 
staircase and of the main corridor above is filled with mural decorations by 
Pierre Cecile Puvis de Chavannes. 




Public Library 



The main decoration in the corridor represents the nine Muses arising to greet 
the genius of enlightenment; the artist entitled it "The Muses of Inspiration 
hail the Spirit, Messenger of Light." As one looks out over the stairway from 
between the beautiful columns above it, the eight arched panels, viewed from left 
to right, represent the following subjects: Pliilosopliy — Plato talks with a dis- 
ciple in the Academy at Athens ; Astronoyny — The Chaldean shepherds observe 
the stars ; History — A Muse commands a partly buried temple to yield its secrets ; 
Chemistry — A fairy watches three winged spirits tending a retort ; Physics — The 



PUBLIC LIBRARY 



&3 



spirits of Good and Bad Tidings float above the telegraph wires ; Pastoral Poetry 

— Virgil visits his beehives ; Dramatic Poetry — /Eschylus gazes at Prometheus 
bound to his crag; Epic Poetry — Two figures representing the Iliad and the 
Odyssey wait upon blind Homer. 

From the center of the corridor, one enters Bates Hall, the great 
reading-room of the Library. This noble room, with richly coffered 
barrel vault, is two hundred and eighteen feet long and fifty feet high ; 
it takes its name from the first great benefactor of the institution. Its 
cases contain about ten thousand selected w'orks of reference ; the cata- 
logue at its south end, consisting of 2,500,000 cards, is a complete index 
to the million volumes belonging to 
the central Library. 

On the right of the staircase corri- 
dor one passes into the Delivery Room, 
designed and decorated by Edwin A. 
Abbey, R. A. This room is famous for 
the series of paintings illustrating the 
Quest and Achievement of the Holy 
Grail. 

The series, beginning at the southwest 
corner of the room, is as follows : The Ms- 
ion — The infant Galahad, in the arms of 
the nun to whose care he has been com- 
mitted, lifts his hands to greet the Holy 
Grail brought before him by an angel ; The 
Oath of Knighthood — The youthful Gala- 
had keeps his vigil in the convent chapel 
while Sir Lancelot and Sir Bors attach his 
spurs ; The Ronnd Table — Sir Galahad is conducted by Joseph of Arimathea to 
the Seat Perilous, while King Arthur rises and the knights greet Galahad by 
raising the cross-shaped hilts of their swords ; the hall is surrounded by angels, 
invisible to the knights ; The Departure — The knights, about to set forth on the 
Quest of the Holy Grail, receive the episcopal benediction ; Sir Galahad bears 
his Red Cross banner; The Castle of the Grail — Galahad stands dumb beside 
the couch of the sick King Amfortas while the procession of the Grail passes 
unquestioned among the spellbound inmates of the castle ; The Loathly Damsel 

— The Damsel, riding upon a mule, upbraids Sir Galahad with his failure to break 
the spell by asking what the procession means; The Seven Sins — Sir Galahad 
breaks his way into the Castle of the Maidens by overcoming the Seven Knights 
of Darkness, who typify the Seven Deadly Sins; The Key to the Castle — Sir 
Galahad receives the key from the porter monk; The Castle of the Maidens — 
Sir Galahad is welcomed by the host of beautiful maidens, typifying the virtues, 
who have been imprisoned in the castle; Blajichefleur — Sir Galahad, bade to 
marry his first love, repents of his intention and leaves her on the wedding 




P>A'i Es Hai. I,, Public I.ihkaky 



84 PUBLIC LIBRARY 

morning to continue his quest; The Death of Amfortas — Sir Galahad, having 
returned to the Castle of the Grail and asked the question, tends the aged King 
Amfortas in his dying moments, while an angel bears the Grail from the Castle 
to the city of Sarras ; Galahad the Deliverer — Sir Galahad rides forth with the 
blessings of those whom he has delivered from the spell ; Solomon's Ship — Sir 
Galahad, accompanied by Sir Bors and Sir Perceval, is wafted across the seas to 
Sarras; the Grail, carried by an angel, guides the ship; The City of Sarras — 
Across the view of the city lie the sword and Red Cross shield of Galahad, its 
king; The Golden Tree — His life work accomplished, Sir Galahad builds a 
Golden Tree upon a hill at Sarras ; Joseph of Arimathea, with a company of red- 
winged seraphs, appears before him with the Grail, now no longer covered. 

By the window of this room stands an ancient railing from the Guildhall 
of Boston, England, before which, in the year 1607, some of the Pilgrim 
Fathers stood for trial. 

From the Delivery Room one obtains access to the Librarian's office 
and Trustees' Room ; the latter contains historic furnishings in the style 
of the French Empire, and a number of important paintings, including 
two portraits of Franklin. 

Through the Venetian Lobby, decorated by Joseph Lindon Smith, 
one enters the Children's Room. The ceiling of the Teacher's Refer- 
ence Room, beyond, bears an allegorical painting by John Elliott, 
entitled " The Triumph of Time " ; the car of Father Time, accompanied 
by two figures representing the Hours of Birth and Death, is drawn by 
twenty splendid horses. The cases about the walls contain the private 
library of President John Adams. In the rear of this floor are the Lec- 
ture Hall and the bookstacks. 

A stairway leads to the main corridor of the upper floor of the build- 
ing, called Sargent Hall. All the decoration of this room is the work 
of John S. Sargent, R. A. Its four sections illustrate the thought and 
technique of the artist during a period of nearly thirty years. The gen- 
eral subject of the paintings is the Triumph of Religion ; they depict 
the various phases through which religion has passed, from Paganism 
through Judaism to Christianity. 

The lunette at the north end of the hall shows the Children of Israel kneeling 
beneath the yoke of Egypt and Assyria ; their hands are raised in supplication to 
Jehovah, whose face is screened by the red wings of seraphim. On the vaulting 
in front of the lunette are the pagan divinities whom the Israelites were tempted 
to worship. Here the background is formed by the black form of the Egyptian 
Nut, Goddess of the Heavens ; above the cornice on one side towers the savage 
figure of Moloch, balanced by the beautiful but sensuous figure of Astarte, Phoe- 
nician Goddess of Love, on- the other hand. Below the lunette is the Frieze of 
the Prophets, with the massive sculptured ^^«r^ of Moses in the center. 



PUBLIC LIBRARY 85 

The opposite end of the hall presents the central dogmas of Christianity . 
Above are seated the three figures of the Trinity. The middle of the wail is 
occupied by a crucifix., -with the bodies of Adam and Eve bound to that of Christ 
and holding cups in which to catch the sacred blood for the healing of mankind. 
Below are figures of angels bearing the crown of thorns and other instruments 
of Christ's passion. 

The niches at the right and left of the end wall contain two representations 
of the Virgin Mary, one showing the happy Mother, holding her child and 
crowned by angels ; the other Our Lady of Sorrows, conceived as a statue 
behind a row of altar candles, with seven swords thrust into her heart. Upon 
the vaulting above are depicted the events in the life of Christ and of the Blessed 
Virgin, collectively called the Fifteen Mysteries. On the left are the foyful Mys- 
teries' ctnienng about the birth of Christ ; on the right the Sorrozvful Mysteries, 
culminating in his death ; and in the center, in high relief, the Glorious Mys- 
teries, including the Resurrection, the Ascension, and the Assumption of 
the Virgin. 

Above the side walls of the hall are six lunettes. The central lunette of the 
east wall is entitled The Lazv, and represents the Hebrew people, conceived as 
a child crouching between the knees of Jehovah. The lunette on the left is called 
the Fall of Gog and Magog and pictures the final moment when all things earthly 
shall perish. The lunette at the other end of this wall presents the Daivn of 
the Messianic Era, in which a child leads humanity through the Gates of Paradise. 
The three lunettes on the opposite side of the hall present The Judgment, in a 
single composition. In the center an angel weighs the souls of men. The good 
soul is welcomed into the Celestial Choir on the left ; at the right, the lightweight 
soul is dragged away to a frightful Hell, where a green monster crams souls of 
the doomed into his jaws. 

In the frames above the stairway are the two panels last painted by Mr. Sargent. 
They represent the mediaeval antithesis of Church and Synagogue. The Syna- 
gogue, on the left, is typified by a haggard woman, blinded and fallen, clutching 
a broken scepter. The Church, on the right, is a majestic seated figure gazing 
outward with clear vision ; between her knees is the dead Christ ; about her head 
are grouped the symbols of the four Evangelists. 

Besides this Hall, the upper floor of the Library contains numerous 
rooms devoted to special collections of books. From the center of 
Sargent Hall one reaches the Brown Music Library. The north room, 
known as the Barton-Ticknor Library, contains most of the rarer books 
belonging to the institution, including the Barton collection of Shake- 
speareana ; the Ticknor collection of Spanish literature ; the Prince 
Library of Americana, and many other collections of note. On the 
south is an Exhibition Room, in which are displayed temporary exhibi- 
tions drawn from the treasures of the Library. Beyond this room are 
the Departments of Fine Arts and Technology. In an annex to this 
floor are housed the extensive printing and binding plants operated by 
the Library. 



86 



TRINITY CHURCH 




"Art," Public Library 



Trinity Church (Protestant Episcopal) is one of the richest examples 
of ecclesiastical architecture in the city. It was the crowning work of 
the architect, H. H. Richardson, and is called his masterpiece. Its style 

as defined by him is the 
French Romanesque, 
as freely rendered in 
the pyramidal-towered 
churches of Auvergne, 
the central tower pre- 
dominating. It is con- 
structed of yellowish 
granite, with brown 
freestone trimmings. 
The elaborate decora- 
tive work of the inte- 
rior is by John La Farge. 
The chapel, with open outside stairway, is connected with the church 
by the open cloister, and here are placed stones from the old St. Botolph 
Church in Boston, 
England, presented 
by the authorities of 
that church. Trinity 
Church was conse- 
crated in 1877. Its 
predecessor was de- 
stroyed in the fire of 
1872. That stood on 
Summer Street at the 
corner of Hawley 
Street, aGothic struc- 
ture with massive 
stone walls and 
tower. Phillips 
B?voks was rector of 
Trinity from 1869 to 
1 89 1, when he was 
made Bishop of Mas- 
sachusetts. The 
Phillips Brooks hoiise Trinity Church 

near by, on the northeast corner of Clarendon and Newbury streets, 
is the rectory of the church. Trinity, founded in 1728, is the third 
Episcopal church established in Boston. 




NEW OLD SOUTH CHURCH 



87 



The Phillips Brooks Memorial, in the green on the Huntington Avenue 
side of this church, was erected by popular subscription of citizens as a 
tribute to the beloved preacher, and passed to the care and custody of 
the corporation of Trinity by deed from the committee representing the 
subscribers. The statue is by Augustus St. Gaudens, and the canopy by 
Charles F. McKim of McKim, Mead, & White. Both are posthumous 
works, but the designs of both were practically completed 
before the death of the sculptor and the architect. The 
statue — of heroic size, representing the preacher in his 
pulpit garb and attitude, and the hooded head of Jesus 
appearing back of the figure, with the Saviour's right hand 
on the preacher's shoulder, typifying the inspirer — exhibits 
St. Gaudens' last and boldest development of his scheme 
of the dual composition, the blending of the realistic with 
the ideal, in outdoor statuary ; and as such invites and 
receives unusual attention. The 
memorial was formally unveiled on 
January 22, 1910, at the conclusion 
of dedicatory exercises within the 
church, attended by a distinguished 
audience, when Henry L. Higginson, 
chairman of the committee of citizens, 
gave the presentation address, and the 
gift was accepted for the corporation 
by the Rev. Alexander Mann, present 
rector of Trinity. 

The New Old South Church, so 
called to distinguish it from, its still 
existing predecessor, the Old South Meetinghouse (Congregational 
Trinitarian), is also, like Trinity, noteworthy for richness of design and 
ornamentation in both the exterior and interior of the structure. It is in 
the North Italian Gothic style, and constructed mainly of the local Rox- 
bury stone. The great tower terminating in a pyramidal spire, composed 
of combinations of colored stones, rises two hundred and forty-eight feet. 
The main entrance through the front of the tower is richly decorated 
and recessed. Delicate carvings of vines and fruits in a belt of gray sand- 
stone ornament the fa9ade. In the beautiful arcade between the tower 
and the south transept, across which are the words, " Behold I have 
set thee an open door," are inscribed tablets. One bears this inscrip- 
tion : "1669. Old South Church. Preserved and blessed of God for 
more than two hundred years while worshiping on its original site, cor- 
ner of "Washington and Milk streets, whence it was removed to this 




New Old South Church 



88 



NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM 



building in 1875, ^iriid constant proofs of his guidance and loving favor. 
Qui tra)istiilit s2tsiinct.^' Cummings & Sears were the architects. 

The Art Clubhouse, of a Romanesque style, finishes the line of strik- 
ing architecture along the Dartmouth Street side. The Dartmouth 
Street entrance, under the arch of terra-cotta work, is the public en- 
trance to the large art gallery, in which exhibitions are given in the 
winter and spring seasons. Around the corner on Newbury Street 
(No. 162) is the building used by the Guild of Boston Artists, where 
work by the members is on exhibition. 

The former main buildings of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology (founded by Professor William B. Rogers as a school of applied 




Natural History Museum and Old Technology Buildings 

science, and chartered in 1861) occupy, together with the Natural His- 
tory Museum, the entire square bounded by Boylston, Berkeley, New- 
bury, and Clarendon streets. With the exception of its Department of 
Architecture, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology moved to 
Cambridge in 1916 (see p. loi). The above department still uses the 
old Rogers Building, dignified in design, with high portal approached 
by a noble flight of broad stone steps. In this building is Huntington 
Hall, where are given the free lecture courses of the Towell Institute 
(founded in 1839 by the will of John Lowell, Jr.). The old "Walker 
Building," severely plain, is now used by the Boston University School 
of Business Administration. 

The Natural History Museum, sedate and elegant in style and finish, 
fronts on Berkeley Street. It is the building of the Boston Society of 
Natural History, founded in 1831. It was erected in 1S64. Over the 
entrance door is carved the society's seal, which bears the head of 
Cuvier. On the keystones of the windows are carved heads of animals, 
and a sculptured eagle surmounts the pediment. The collections in the 
halls and galleries of this museum are admirably arranged. 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE TEMPLE 



89 








Horticultural Hall 



Above Copley Square, in the neighborhood of Huntington Avenue, 
are other institutions of note. On Exeter Street, two blocks north, is 
the Massachusetts Normal Art School (estabhshed by the state in 1873), 

and on the opposite 
corner the South 
Congregational 
Church, long the 
pulpit of Edward 
Everett Hale. On 
Irvington Street, 
south of theavenue, 
is the South Armory. 
Between Dart- 
mouth and Irving- 
ton vStreets, on the 
south side of the 
avenue, began in 
1922 a most impor- 
tant enterprise for 
public improvement — the extension of Stua7-t Street. This new great 
thoroughfare, between Huntington Avenue and Washington Street, is 
opening up to all kinds of activities the long vacant Park Square lands. 
These were formerly covered by the Boston and Providence Railroad 
Stationwithitsapproach- 
ing tracks. Beyond Exe- 
ter Street, on Hunting- 
ton Avenue, is the long- 
spreading Mechanics 
Building, headquarters 
of the venerable Mas- 
sachusetts Charitable 
Mechanic Association 
(instituted 1 795, incorpo- 
rated 1806), in the great 
halls of which industrial 
exhibitions are given. 

In the neighborhood, 
on side streets — Falmouth, Norway, and St. Paul — reached from the 
avenue through a beautiful park and garden, is the striking stone 
Christian Science Temple, rising to the lofty height of two hundred and 
twenty feet, topped by a magnificent dome, and with an auditorium of 
five thousand sittings. It has a melodious chime of bells, which are 




Symphony Hall 



90 



HUNTINGTON AVENUE 




VVestland Avenue Entrance to the Fens 



rung with pleasing frequency. This is The First Church of Christ, 
Scientist, — The Mother Church so called, generously endowed by 
Mrs. Eddy, the founder of this denomination. 

About the Junction of Huntington and Massachusetts Avenues. In this 
section are grouped more notable buildings, giving it a special distinc- 
tion. At the east corner of 
the two avenues is Horti- 
cultural Hall, the fine build- 
ing of the Massachusetts 
Horticultural Society (or- 
ganized 1829), in which 
great exhibitions of flow- 
ers and fruits are held. 
The opposite corner is 
marked by Symphony Hall, 
successor of the old Music Hall as a "temple of music," where the con- 
certs of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the oratorios of the Handel 
and Haydn Society are given ; also the early summer " Pop" concerts. 
Nearly opposite, on Huntington Avenue, at the corner of Gainsbor- 
ough Street, is the building of the New England Conservatory of Music 
(established in 1867). In 
its entrance hall stands 
the statue of Beethoven 
by Crawford, originally 
in the old Music Hall. 

Through Wcstlajid 
Aveniie, north of the 
junction of Huntington 
and Massachusetts Ave- 
nues, the Back Bay Fens 
may be reached. Here, 
at Hemenway Street, is 
the Western entrance, 
with the Fonntaiu in 
memory of Ellen C. 
Johnson, superintendent of the Reformatory for Women at Sherborn. 
Huntington Avenue and about the Fens. Continuing along Huntington 
Avenue, we pass other buildings of note in succession and soon come 
upon a noble assemblage of institutions, — museums, colleges, schools, 
hospitals, — housed in monumental structures about the upper Fens. 

Next beyond the Conservatory of Music rises the great building of 
the Boston Young Men's Christian Association. 




P.I >s ION Opera House 



MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS 



91 



On the right side of the avenue is the Boston Opera House, with simple, 
dignified fa9ade. No. 410 is the building of the Tufts College Medical 
and Dental Departments (the seat of Tufts College is College Hill, Med- 
ford ; see p. 118). On the right side, again, we have the impressive 
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, with Cyrus E. Dallin's symbolic 
statue, " The Appeal to the Great Spirit," facing the entrance court. 

The Museum of Fine 
Arts (incorporated 1870) 
was first opened in 1876 
in a building in Copley 
Square, now the site of 
the Copley Plaza Hotel. 
This second structure of 
the institution was avail- 
able for use in 1909. The 
newer part of the Mu- 
seum, the gift of Mrs. 
Robert 1). Evans, facing 
the Fenway, was erected 
in 1913. In its general 
scheme the construction 
embodies the results of 
studies of the principal 
museums of Europe and 
of modern muscology, 
made by advisory com- 
mittees composed of ar- 
tists and architects, in connection with the director and the museum 
staff. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts ranks among the most impor- 
tant art museums in the world. A printed guide to the chief exhibits 
may be obtained at the office. The collections include Egyptian and 
Classical Art, Chinese and Japanese sculptures and paintings. Western 
Art embraces Spanish, Italian, Flemish, Dutch, flench, English, and 
American paintings, Flemish tapestries, and Mohammedan pottery, 
rugs, and velvets. The decorations by John S. Sarge?it in the rotunda, 
at the top of the main stairway, were completed in 192 1. The Mu- 
seum has a valuable library on works of art. Both the buildings and 
collections are the results of private subscriptions or bequests, for the 
Museum receives no help from city or state. Admission is free. The 
Museum is open weekdays and Sundays. T/ie Museum Sc/tool, which 
gives instruction in drawing and painting, modeling and designing, is 
in a separate building to the south of the main building. 




Museum of Fine Akts 



92 



HARVARD mki)k:al school 



Opposite the Art Museum is the Wentworth Institute, a school of 
"the mechanical arts," with day and evening courses, incorporated in 
1904, and provided for in the will of Arioch Wentworth, a Boston mer- 
chant. Ruggles Street northward leads into the Fens, and directly to 
Fenway Court, which contains the rich collection of works'of art belong- 
ing to the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum corporation. 

Hack of Fenway Court, facing or near the P'enway road at its junc- 
tion with Huntington Avenue, is the fine cluster of Boston school build- 
ings of the higher grade, — the Girls' Latin, the Boston Normal, and the 
High School of Commerce. On the Kivenoay are the buildings of Simmons 
College (chartered 1899), established by thewillof John Simmons,a Boston 

merchant, to furnish 
instruction in " such 
branchesof art, science 
and industry " as will 
" best enable women 
to earn an independent 
livelihood." Also on 
the Riverway, nearer 
Brookline Avenue, is 
the handsome new 
building of Notre Dame 
Academy (Roman 
Catholic). 

The broad Avenue 
Louis Pasteur leads 
from the Riverway to the noble group of five marble structures consti- 
tuting the Harvard University School of Medicine, on Longwood Avenue, 
and the "White City" of hospitals in this quarter, of which the Medi- 
cal School is the center. The central white-pillared Administfatiofi 
Building faces an open court, and the laboratory buildings are on 
either side. The establishment of the school of medicine in this loca- 
tion has attracted a number of important hospitals to available vacant 
lands in the neighborhood. The Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, the 
CoUis P. Huntington Memorial, the Children's and Infants' Hospitals, the 
House of the Good Samaritan, as well as the Harvard Dental School and 
the Carnegie Nutrition Laboratory, closely surround the Medical School 
and derive light and heat from its power plant. The Angell Memorial 
Hospital for Animals and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy are in 
the neighborhood. The Psychopathic Hospital is within a short walking 
distance, and the Robert Bent Brigham Hospital and the Elks' Reconstruc- 
tion Hospital (both taken over by the United States Army in 1918) are 




The Gardner Museum of Ari 



MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



93 



at the summit of Parker Hill and almost equally near. Many other hos- 
pitals and similar institutions are in this immediate neighborhood. 

We may return by way of Brookline Avenue, taking a surface car, 
and pass on this side of the Fens. The church suggestive of colonial 
architecture, on Peterborough and Jersey streets, is the Church of the 
Disciples (Unitarian), successor of the meetinghouse at the South End 
of the city, for nearly fifty years the pulpit of James Freeman Clarke. 

Should we return by the Fenway route we have a rural walk, with 
pleasing vistas, winding through the most charming sections of the park. 
Soon we pass the beautiful Fenway front of the Art Museum. A short 
distance beyond, the Forsythe Dental Infirmary for Children presents 




Hakvakd Mkdical School 



its classic fa9ade. Near the pond is a statue of Robert Burns by 
H. H. Kitson. We are shortly in the grove of poplars near the junc- 
tion of the Fenway and Boylston Street. Here is the little monument to 
John Boyle O'Reilly, the Irish poet, editor, and athlete, erected in 1897 
(Daniel C. French, sculptor). 

On the Fenway near Boylston Street is the handsome house of the 
Boston Medical Library (founded in 1874), ornamenting the street. The 
principal reading room is Holmes Hall, named for Dr. Oliver Wendell 
Holmes and adorned with mementos of him. His own valuable medical 
library is preserved in the general collection of this library — the fourth 
in size of the medical libraries of the country. There is here the Storer 
collection of medical medals, remarkable in its variety and extent. 

At the corner of the Fenway and Boylston .Street, facing the latter, is 
the house of the Massachusetts Historical Society (founded in 1791), the 
oldest historical society in the country, and probably in the world. This 
distinguished building contains the society's rare library of forty-three 



94 CHARLESGATE 

thousand volumes, enriched with historical documents and manuscripts. 
Over the entrance to the Dowse Library are the crossed sivorJs which 
used to rest above the library of William H. Prescott, and to which 
Thackeray alludes in the opening of " The Virginians." The cabinet 
museum of curios contains numerous interesting objects, among them 
the wooden Indian which topped the old Province House and the cannon 
ball which struck the Brattle Square Church during the Siege. 

From the grove of poplars we take a circling course westward and 
northwestward, to the end of the Fenway at Charlesgate and Common- 
wealth Avenue. From the bridge over Ipswich Street and the railroad 
we see, to the left, Fenway Park, the great baseball arena (American 

League), occupying ample grounds, with a 
seating capacity of some thirty-five thousand. 
"S- "•■ Effectively placed at the turn of the Fen- 

jSS. way by Charlesgate, and facing Common- 

5^ wealth Avenue, is the memorial to Patrick A. 

Collins, another worthy Irish-American ; ora- 
tor and statesman, in national, state, and city 
service, ending his public career as a mayor 
of Boston. This is the work of Henry H. 

Kitson and his wife, x-Mice Ruggles Kitson, 
John Bovle O'Re.lly ^^^ ^^^^ i^^^^ j^^ ^g 

Monument . -^ , , . , 

Charlesgate is the passage through which 

Muddy River, coming over from Brookline through the Fens, empties 

into the Charles River; and the streets on either side are Charlesgate 

East and Cha7-lesgate West. 

A block west of Charlesgate West, at the junction of Commonwealth 
Avenue and Beacon Street, is seen the frame of the entrance to the 
Boylston Street Subway, which passes under Commonwealth Avenue 
and Massachusetts Avenue, by the north side of the steam railroad 
tracks, to and through Boylston Street, east. 

Massachiisetts Avenue (see p. 75) is the great artery north and south 
through this quarter of the Back Bay. It extends by the Hajvard 
Bridge across the Charles River into Cambridge (see p. loi). At the 
corner of the avenue and Beacon Street is the Mount Vernon Church 
(Congregational Trinitarian), successor of the church on Ashburton Place, 
Beacon Hill, now the Boston University Law School building (see p. 47). 

The quarter west of Massachusetts Avenue, the newer residential 
part, with broad thoroughfares and cross streets and fine dwellings, is 
colloquially termed the " New Back Bay." Bay State Road, making off 
from Charlesgate West to the riverside, is especially noticeable for its 
interesting display of varied types of domestic architecture. 



THE SOUTH END 95 

Commonwealth Avenue of this quarter, beyond the intersection of 
Brookline Avenue, presents a number of architecturally notable quasi- 
public structures. Most conspicuous is the white-walled and white- 
domed Temple Israel, the stateliest Hebrew church in Boston. On the 
east side of Cottage Farm Bridge and extending over to Bay State Road 
and the river, Boston University (see pp. 47, 81) has secured a tract of 
land with rare possibilities. In this region elaborate plans are in the 
making to meet the rapid growth of the various departments of the 




Agassiz 13kiuc;e in the Fens 

University. Beyond the bridge are the Commonwealth Armory and 
Braves Field, where the baseball games of the National League are played. 
Toward the westerly end of this " New Back Bay," on Audubon 
Circle, with westerly frontage on Audubon Road, is the strikingly de- 
signed Second Church (Congregational Unitarian), in the English Geor- 
gian style, with parish house adjoining. This is the seventh edifice of 
the Second Church, and the sixth in line from the historic Old North 
Church in North Square, used for fuel during the Siege of Boston 
(see p. 58). 

6. The South End 

The South End is now a faded quarter. Like the Back Bay it is 
composed largely of " made land." It was developed from the narrow 
neck connecting the old town with Roxbury, and was planned and 
built up on a generous scale to become the permanent fashionable part 



g6 THE SOUTH END 

of the city. Such favor it was enjoying when the lavish development 
of the Back Bay began, and fashion was not long in turning from it and 
moving westward. With all its air of having seen better days, however, 
this quarter still has attractions. 

Washington and Tremont Streets and Shawmut and Columbus Avenues 
are the great thoroughfares south. Columbus Avenue opens up at Park 
Square. Here is the Emancipation Group, commemorating the freeing of 
the slaves by President Lincoln (Thomas Ball, sculptor) ; erected in 1879. 

Among the most noteworthy institutions in the South End are : the 
Public Latin and English High Schools, on Warren Avenue, Dartmouth 
and Montgomery Streets ; the enlarged Girls' High School, West New- 
ton Street; Boston College High School (Roman Catholic), Harrison 
Avenue (No. 761) ; and Franklin Union, Berkeley Street (No. 41). This 
last institution, made possible by Benjamin Franklin's bequest of ;!^iooo 
to the city of Boston, was erected in 1907 and 1908. It offers technical 
education for man and woman. The decorative mural panels in the 
entrance hall, illustrating scenes in Franklin's life, deserve attention. 
Franklin's will stipulated that his gift should be invested and increased 
for 100 years before it was used. The fund was so well managed that 
108 years after the death of Franklin it amounted to $405,000. 

Occupying land bounded by or in the neighborhood of Harrison 
Avenue, East Concord Street, Albany Street, and Massachusetts 
Avenue are the buildings grouped about the great Boston City Hospital, 
and the School of Medicine connected with Boston University. 

Of the churches in this region, the stone Cathedral of the Holy Cross 
(Roman Catholic), on Washington Street at the corner of Maiden Street, 
is the greatest. It is the largest Catholic church in New England and 
in some respects the iinest. It is in the early English Gothic style. 
The interior is richly designed and embellished. The arch of the front 
vestibule is constructed of bricks from the ruins of the Ursuline Con- 
vent on Mount Benedict (now leveled) in Somerville, which was burned 
by a mob on the night of August 11, 1834. In the front yard of the 
edifice is the bronze statue of Columbus, by Alois Buyens (a replica of 
the San Domingo monument), erected in 1892. The Cathedral is the 
headquarters of the Archdiocese of Boston and the seat of His Emi- 
nence, Cardinal William H. O'Connell, Archbishop of Boston. The 
Church of the Immaculate Conception, Harrison Avenue and East Concord 
Street, has an interior rich in ornamentation. 

Of the older Protestant churches, several have become "institutional 
churches," with numerous and varied helpful activities. 

The Cadet Armory (Columbus Avenue) and the East Armory (East 
Newton Street) are in this quarter. 



MARINE PARK 



97 



7- 



The Outlying Districts 



East Boston on its islands is a place of steamship docks and of great 
manufactories. In the days of wooden ships it was a center of ship- 
yards, whence fine craft were launched. Here were built splendid clipper 
ships for the California service in the gold-digging days. Now its at- 
tractions for the visitor are slight, although several of its hill streets 




Castle Island, AIakinl I'akk 

are pleasant, and wide harbor views open from various points. Belmont 
Square, on Camp Hill, marks the site of the fort erected in the Revolu- 
tionary period, and perhaps also the site of the fortified house of Sam- 
uel Maverick, the earliest white settler, in 1630. Wood Island Park, 
of the Metropolitan Parks System, lies on the harbor or south side 
of the main island. 

South Boston has become a 
great industrial center and a 
place of shipping docks. Its 
points of popular interest to- 
day are the remnant of Dor- 
chester Heights, — Telegraph 
Hill, — upon which is the 
monument " perpetuating 
the erection of American 
fortifications that forced the 
British to evacuate Boston, 
March 17, 1776"; and the 
beautiful waterfront espla- 
nade, the Marine Park, of 
the Boston Public Parks Sys- 
tem, with its handsomely housed Aquarium. These are all at the east 
end of the district locally known as " The Point." In the Marine Park 
is the admirable statue of Farragut, in bronze, by H. H. Kitson. This 
was erected in 1893. City Point is a favorite yachting station with several 
yacht clubhouses. Off the Point is the United States Life-Saving Station. 




Head House, Marine Park 



98 MARINE PARK 

A long bridge connects Fort Independence on Castle Island (a disused 
government fortification ceded to the city for park purposes) with the 
shore boulevard. Castle Island extends out into the harbor for some 
distance. It is the scene of many picnics and offers a fine opportunity 
to catch the ocean breeze and see the incoming and outgoing shipping. 
A breakwater provides a pleasure bay for small boats. From City Point 
a parkway extends along Columbia Road to Franklin Park and the Blue 
Hills of Milton, which can be seen in the distance, to the south. Just 
before the Parkway leaves the water's edge and turns inland is Columbus 
Park, a large playground made from Dorchester Bay by dredging and 
filling in the flats. Extending from this point into the bay is a neck of 
land and roadway terminating in the main pumping station of the south- 
ern division of the great intercepting sewer of the city, and also one of 
the works of the Boston Consolidated Gas Company. At the foot of 
L Street is a public bath open the year round. For many Bostonians 
no summer day is complete without their salt-water dip at the L-Street 
Baths. A few hardy persons appear on the coldest days, and photographs 
have been taken of the more venturesome swimmers surrounded by 
cakes of ice. In the lower part of the district the Lawrence schoolhouse 
on West Third Street marks the site of Nook Hill, where, during the 
Siege of Boston, on March 16, 1776, a battery was planted which com- 
pleted the line of the American fortifications. The British troops evac- 
uated the town of Boston the following day. A bronze tablet records 
this event. The Commonwealth Pier and the largest Dry Dock on the 
Atlantic coast, built by the state, are worth inspection. The importance 
of this South Boston waterfront was evident during the World War, and 
a site was chosen here for the United States Anny Quartermaster'' s Storage 
Buildings. The large new Fish Pier, the center of the industry, offers 
novel sights and smells to inland visitors. 

The Roxbury District has many attractions for the antiquarian. In 1 630 
settlers who came over with Winthrop took up their abode here, estab- 
lishing themselves near the present John Eliot Square, with its century- 
old meetinghouse of the "First Religious Society in Roxbury" (dating 
from 1631), on the site of the first rude structure, in which John Eliot 
preached for more than fifty years. The settlement was called Rocks- 
borough from the great ledge of rocks running through it, — the so-called 
Roxbury Pudding-stone. Among the Revolutionary landmarks is Roxbury 
High Fort marked by the lofty, ornate white water pipe, on the hill of 
Highland Park, between Beach Glen and Fort avenues. The High Fort 
crowned the famous Roxbury lines of investment during the Siege of 
Boston. The lines of the fort are indicated, and it is fittingly marked by 
a tablet. Highland Street, which leads from John Eliot Square, passes 



ROXBURY AND WEST ROXBURV DISTRICTS 



99 



the short Morlcy Street, where is still to be seen the last home of Edward 
Everett Hale, — a broad, roomy, old-time house. On Highland Street was 
" Rockledge," the home of William Lloyd Garrison in his later years. On 
Wanen Street, not far from the Dudley Street station, is the site of the 
birthplace of General Joseph Warren, now covered by a stone house 
built in 1S46 by Dr. John Collins Warren "as a permanent memorial 
of the spot." In the neighboring square is the statue of Warren, by Paul 
W. Bartlett, placed in 1904. Near by, on Kearsarge Avenue, was the 
home of Rear Admiral John A. Winslow of the Kearsarge ys\\\z\i destroyed 
the Alabama in the Civil War. Here also is the Roxbury Latin School, 
only, ten years the junior of the Boston Latin School, having been es- 

tablishedin 1645. Of this 
school Warren was a 
master when he was but 
nineteen years old. Near 
the old Boston line, at 
the corner of Washing- 
ton and Eustis streets, 
is the ancient burying 
ground in which are the 
tombs of John Eliot and 
•of the Dudleys, — Gov- 
ernor Thomas Dudley 
(died 1653), Governor 
Joseph Dudley (1720), 
Chief Justice Dudley 
(1752), and Colonel 
William Dudley (1743)- 
In the western part of this district is Franklin Park, the largest single 
park in the Boston City Parks System. 

The West Roxbury District contains memorials of Theodore Parker, 
and embraces " Brook Farm," the place of the experiment in socialism 
by the Brook Farm Community of literary folk in 1841-1847, and the 
scene of Hawthorne's " Blithedale Romance." The old First Parish 
meetinghouse with its Wren tower, on Centre Street, locally known as 
the Theodore Parker Church, from Parker's nine years ministry here, re- 
mained, though long unused and dismantled, a cherished landmark till 
19 1 3. In front of its successor, a little farther up Centre Street, is a fine 
bronze statue of Parker. Farther along this main street,at the corner of Cot- 
tage Avenue, Parker's residence yet stands, — now occupied as the parish 
house of a neighboring Catholic church. Brook Farm is but little changed 
in its outward aspect. It lies about a mile distant from Spring Street 




Path in the Wilderness, Franklin Park 



lOO 



DORCHESTER DISTRICT 



station on the railroad (by way of Baker Screet). The Stony Brook Reser- 
vation of the Metropolitan Parks System is in this district. Forest Hills 
Cemetery, one of the most beautiful of modern burying grounds, is in 
another part of the district, close by the terminus of the Elevated Line 
at Forest Hills and the Forest Hills station of the steam railroad. Here 
are the graves or tombs of General Joseph Warren, Rear Admirals 
Winslow and Thacher, William Lloyd Garrison, John Gilbert, the actor, 
Martin Milmore, the sculptor, and many others of distinction. At Mil- 
more's grave is the monument representing the Angel of Death stay- 
ing the hand of the sculptor, an exceptionally fine piece of sculpture by 
Daniel C. French. Jamaica Plain, in which are the Arnold Arboretum and 
Olmsted Park of the Boston City Parks System, is a part of this district. 

The Dorchester District is now essentially a place of homes. It em- 
braces a series of hills, several of them commanding pleasant water 
views. Meetinghouse Hill, in the southern part, is crowned with a fine 
example of the New England meetinghouse of the early nineteenth 
century, in direct descent from the first meetinghouse of 163 1. At 
L"'pham's Corner, on Dudley Street and Columbia Road, is the ancient 
burying ground, one of the most interesting in the country. Among the 
distinguished tombs here are those of Lieutenant Governor William 
vStoughton, chief justice of the court before which the witchcraft trials 
at Salem were held, and Richard Mather, the founder of the Mather 
family in New England. There are a number of imposing tablets. 

The Brighton District was once the great cattle mart of New England, 
and famous also for its extensive market gardens and nurseries. A few 
of the latter remain, but the district is mainly a residential section. On 
Charles River side it has a speedway, and a children's playground and 
outdoor gymnasium. 

The Hyde Park District is the most rural of the outlying ones. A part 
of the Stony Brook Reservation, Metropolitan Parks System, lies within 
its borders. 




Looking Down Commonwealth Avenue 



CAMBRIDGE 



lOI 



11. THE METROPOLITAN REGION 

The thirty-eight cities and towns comprising with modern Boston the 
MetropoUtan District (see Plates III and IV), all lying in the " Boston 
Basin " (see p. 3), or touched by a circle with a radius of fifteen miles 
from the State House, are : 

Cities — Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, Maiden, Medford, Mel- 
rose, Newton, Quincy, Somerville, Waltham, and Woburn. 

Towns — Arlington, Belmont, Braintree, Brookline, Canton, Dedham, 
Hingham, Hull, Lexington, Milton, Nahant, Needham, Reading, Revere, 
Saugus, Stoneham, Swampscott, Wakefield, Watertown, Wellesley, Wes- 
ton, Westwood, Weymouth, Winchester, and Winthrop. 

CAMBRIDGE AND HARVARD 

Visitors to Boston are anxious to see Cambridge — the city across the 
Charles River. The two cities are joined by seven bridges. It is inter- 
esting to take one of these in going and another for the return trip. 
The new buildings of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are best 




llU-. X I.U riA.HN.iLlJClY " 



seen by approaching Cambridge over Harvard Bridge. Massachjisetts 
Avenue in the two municipalities is connected by this bridge. " The 
New Technology "was dedicated June 14, 1916, and marks an event in the 
movement to surround the Charles River Basin with dignified archi- 
tecture. In 191 2 the Institute, long established on Boylston Street (see 
p. 88), purchased fifty acres, most of it made land, in Cambridge to 
the east of Massachusetts Avenue, bordering the Charles River Park- 
way. In 191 3 William Welles Bosworth was appointed architect of " The 
New Technology " group. The buildings for educational use occupy 



I02 THE NEW TECHNOLOGY 

the land nearest the Avenue. These are connected buildings clustered 
about the library. The central court, which opens on the river front, 
extends into two large, though minor, courts near the Parkway. As 
the central court is entered the visitor faces the classic architecture 
of the library and administration building, with pillared portico and 
dome. To the left of this, and extending toward the river, is the 
long structure devoted to Mechanical Engineering ; this department 
occupies also the adjoining structure, facing on the west minor court, 
the other two sides of this court being bounded by the Civil Engi- 
neering buildings, one of which looks out on the Avenue and the other 
on the Parkway. To the right and nearest the river are the wings 
devoted to general studies, bounding two sides of the east court, while 
Chemistry occupies the building on the third side of this court and that 
along the great court on its east side. Physics and Electrical Engineer- 
ing occupy that portion of the main building between the portico and 
Chemistry, while Mining and Metallurgy are housed in an extension of 
buildings to the right along the line of the administration group. The 
Library, the finest engineering collection in the country, is directly be- 
neath the dome, whose " eye " furnishes abundant light for the great 
reading room. The administration offices are just within the great portico. 

These structures, for which the pilaster treatment was selected, are 
so well proportioned that their magnitude is likely to be underestimated. 
For a scale of comparison it may be said that the Boston Public Library 
might be placed within the great central court and have room for a wide 
city street around it, between it and the buildings on either side. 

The laboratories, which occupy vast spaces within the buildings, are 
strictly utilitarian and hardly admit of popular description. In the hy- 
draulic laboratory there are 800 feet of canals for measuring the fiow of 
liquids, and a great pump of 22,000-gallons-a-minute capacity. The steam 
laboratory is the best of its class in the country, while the electrical and 
chemical laboratories are fitted with the newest of modern devices. 

The Pratt School of Naval Architecture continues the frontage along 
Massachusetts Avenue. Back of the educational buildings is space for 
future growth, while along the farthest line, bounding the railroad, are 
placed the power house and various laboratories. 

The east half of the Technology holdings in Cambridge is reserved for 
student uses. Here is located the track and athletic field. The chief 
feature of the student section is the Walker Memorial, an all-Technology 
student club in honor of President Francis A. Walker, who recognized 
during his term the need that existed for better acquaintance among the 
students. The dormitories and fraternity houses occupy the ground 
farthest east, or down the river, and here is the house of the President. 



HARVARD SQUARE 



103 




Ci I V Hai L 



Massachusetts Avenue continues through Camhridgeport until, beyond 
Central Square, one observes the City Hall, a fine building of reddish 
granite with brown stone trimmings and a clock tower. Other city in- 
stitutions may be seen by leaving the car at Trowbridge Street, at the 
end of which will be found the Public Library and the Manual Training 
School. Close by are the Cam- 
bridge High and Latin School. 

Massachusetts Avenue leads 
into Harvard Square. The trip to 
Harvard Square from Boston 
may be made in the least pos- 
sible time, under fifteen minutes 
from Park Street Station of the 
Subway, by the Cambridge Tun- 
neL The cars go under Beacon 
Hill and emerge into daylight 
as they cross the West Boston 
Bridge. On the left is an un- 
equaled view of the liack Bay. 
On the right is East Cambridge, 

with many workshops and factories. Conspicuous here, and near the 
bridge, is the great Athenaeum Press of Messrs. Ginn and Company. The 
Athenffium Press is devoted entirely to printing, binding, and shipping 
Messrs. Ginn and Company's publications. On the Cambridge side the 
tunnel cars go underground and with two stops only, Kendall Square 

and Central Square, ar- 
rive at Harvard Square. 
Here is Harvard Uni- 
versity. 

Let us begin our tour 
about the University 
grounds at the corner 
of "The Yard," where 
Quincy Street leads out 
of Massachusetts Ave- 
nue. (See the plan on 
the next page.) Separated from the Yard on Quincy Street is the 
Harvard Union, erected 1901, of which Henry L. Higginson and Henry 
Warren were the chief donors. It is a sort of home, or meeting ground, 
for graduates and undergraduates. It contains a restaurant, a good 
library and reading room, billiard rooms, and a large assembly room. 
Across the street, facing Massachusetts Avenue, is a gate and boundary 




^^jRriinifnmtMlllf Vi 



i w 4^ 




Athen,eum Press 



104 



HARVARD UNIVERSITY 



wall given by the class of i8So. The names Theodore Roosevelt and RobeH 
Bacon are in tablets set in the wall on opposite sides of the gate. Facing 
Quincy Street is di gate in Jtievioty of Thomas Dudley, Govertioj- of the 
Colony of the Alassachnsetts Bay. The first house on the corner and 
within the Yard was formerly the Harvard* Observatory. Afterward it 
was the home of President Felton, and later of the venerated Professor 
A. P. Peabody, The ample house next above is the president's house. 



HARVARD UXn^ERSITY 

CAHBIilDGE. MASS. 




•Grounds of Harvard University 



replacing the little brick dwelling of President Eliot's day. Next stands 
Emerson Hall, erected in memory of Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

Let us now retrace our steps and turn the corner at the sometime 
observatory. 

\Ve walk along Massachusetts Avenue in the direction of Harvard 
Square and pass the gate-way in fne/nory of Samuel Dexter, class of i S90, be- 
fore finding ourselves by the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library. This 
takes the place of the old university library, or Gore Hall. It was erected 
in memory of H. E. Widener, class of 1907, who was lost on the Titanic 
in 19 1 2. The building covers four sides of a quadrangle and was dedi- 
cated June 24, 191 5. Besides the university library of some 750,000 vol- 
umes, the building contains in a special room Harry Elkins IVidener's 



HARVARD UNIVERSITY 105 

07vn library, a matchless collection of 2500 volumes. Some exhibition 
of uncommon interest will always be on view in the Treasure Room. 
The furnishings here are in memory of Evart Jansen Wendell, class 
of 1882, a generous benefactor, who died in 1919. Emerging from the 
library and skirting the Yard to the right, we come first to Sever Hall, 
a recitation building, simple, substantial, and dignified, the work of the 
late H. H. Richardson. It was built in 18S0 from a fund given by 
Mrs. Anne E. P. Sever. To the left is the college chapel, called Apple- 
ton Chapel, a building of light stone erected in 1858, the gift of Samuel 
Appleton. Beyond it and facing on Cambridge Street is a neat building 
of stone, almost white, brought from Indiana. This is the William Hayes 
Fogg Art Museum, erected in 1895, and given by Mrs. Elizabeth Fogg. 
It contains a large collection of casts, statues, engravings, coins, etc., 
but leaves something to be desired in point of beauty. Turning sharply 
to the left and continuing to skirt the Yard, we find at the bend in the 
road the Phillips Brooks House, designed by A. W. Longfellow. It is the 
center of the religious life of the university. In this vicinity are several 
beautiful gates, given by various classes. 

Leaving this house behind us and turning our steps toward the center 
of the Yard, we come first to Holworthy, which was erected in 181 2 
from money obtained by a lottery. Back of Holworthy, by the way, is 
a gate given by George von L. Meyer, former Secretary of the Navy. 
Holworthy, from its slightly elevated site at the head of the yard, 
occupies a commanding position, and has always been a favorite build- 
ing. It was the first dormitory that made any pretense to luxury, for 
it is arranged in suites of three rooms for " chums," — a study in front 
and two bedrooms in the rear of the building. Class Day spreads and 
Commencement punches always found in Holworthy their fittest home. 
In front of Holworthy the Glee Club sings, and noted men gather in 
groups. Standing here we obtain the best view of the beautiful Yard, 
with its elm trees, its shadows, its splashes of sunshine on the turf, 
or, of a Class-Day night, its festoons of Japanese lanterns swaying from 
tree to tree. 

Turning to the right or westerly side of the Yard, we come first to 
Stoughton, a dormitory built in 1805. In its rear, or nearly so, is Holden 
Chapel, the gift (1744) of Madam Holden of London, and once the 
college chapel. It is now used for society meetings. Just south of 
Holden Chapel is a gate given by the class of 1873, and north of that 
a gate and sundial erected by the class of 1870. Next comes Hollis 
Hall, also a dormitory, which dates back to 1763 and was the gift of 
Thomas Hollis of London. Three generations of that family were 
benefactors of the college. This building was used as barracks by 



io6 



HARVARD UNIVERSITY 





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Harvard Gate, Class of 1877 



the American soldiers in the Revolution at the time when the college 
was temporarily removed to Concord. Next to Hollis is Harvard Hall, 
a building which replaced an earlier Harvard Hall burned in 1764. 

The present building 
was also used as bar- 
racks in the Revolu- 
tionary War. It now 
holds some special 
libraries. There is a 
cupola on Harvard 
Hall containing a bell 
which rings for prayers 
and recitations. The 
space between the cor- 
ners of the two build- 
ings, Harvard and 
Hollis, is only five or six feet, and there is a tradition that once a 
student, trying to steal the tongue of the bell, heard the janitor mount- 
ing the cupola, and running down the steep roof of Harvard, jumped 
across the gap and landed safely on the roof of Hollis, whence he 
escaped. 

Next in order comes Massachusetts, but between Massachusetts Hall 
and Harvard Hall is the principal entrance from the street to the 
college yard, through the beautiful Johnston gateway, designed by 
Charles F. McKim. This is inscribed with the orders of the General 
Court relating to the establishment of the college in 1636-1639 and 
this extract : 

After God had carried vs safe to New England 

and wee had bvilded ovr hovses 

provided necessaries for ovr liveli hood 

reard convenient places for Gods worship 

and setled the civill government 

one of the next things we longed for 

and looked after was to advance learning 

and perpetvate it to posterity 

dreading to leave an illiterate ministery 

to the churclies when our present ministers 

shall die in the dvst 

New Englands First Fruits. 

Massachusetts Hall, the oldest of the college buildings, was a gift to 
the college by the Province in 1720. This hall also was occupied by 
troops during the Revolution, After^\•ard it became a dormitory again, 



HARVARD UNIVERSITY 



107 



later a lecture room, and it is now used for meetings and public pur- 
poses. Beyond Massachusetts, in our tour of the Quadrangle, comes 
Matthews Hall, a dormitory erected in 1872 through the generosity of 
Nathan Matthews of Boston. This hall is said to stand on the site of 
the old Indian College, which was built in 1654 and in which several 
Indian youths struggled with the classics. One of them, Caleb Chee- 
shahteaumuck, took a degree and died. Just beyond Matthews Hall is 
an open space, the site of Dane Hall, recently destroyed by fire. We 
come next to Grays Hall, a modern dormitory which faces Holworthy 
Hall, at the south end of the yard. It was the gift (1863) of Francis C. 
Gray of Boston, and its site is probably that of the first college building. 
Back of Grays Hall, and 
close to the street, is an 
ancient wooden building, 
yet of dignifiedaspect, called 
Wadsworth House. This 
house was built in 1726, 
jointly by the Province and 
by the college, as a residence 
for the presidents of the 
institution. It was Washing- 
ton's headquarters until, as 
we shall presently see, he 
removed to the Longfellow 
house on Brattle Street. 

Returning now to the Quadrangle, the substantial granite building 
standing a little back and near the street is Boylston Hall, —devoted 
to chemistry. Next in order, and facing Matthews Hall, is Weld Hall, 
a dormitory given to the college in 1872 by William F. Weld. Beyond 
that is a simple, graceful, and dignified building of white granite, built 
in 181 5 from a design by Bulfinch. It is called University Hall, and 
for many years was the main recitation building. It is now used as 
an office building. University Hall and Sever Hall might perhaps be 
described as the two buildings in the Yard which are beautiful in 
themselves, apart from any association. Beyond University, standing 
at right angles with Holworthy, is Thayer Hall, a dormitory. 

Passing out of the Quadrangle and continuing to Cambridge Street, 
which bounds the Yard on the north, we have within view many build- 
ings, mostly of recent construction, belonging to the university. Oppo- 
site the Phillips Brooks House, on the other side of the street, is the 
Hemenway Gymnasium, given by Augustus Hemenway in 1878. To 
the right is the Lawrence Scientific School building, given by Abbott 




ilAK\AKD Main Gate 



io8 HARVARD UNIVERSITY 

Lawrence in 1847, and reenforced in 1884 by a building in Holmes's 
Field just beyond, erected by T. Jefferson Coolidge of Boston. In this 
last building the visitor may behold an electric machine given to the 
college by Benjamin Franklin, and a telescope used by Professor John 
Winthrop. Immediately in front of us is a triangular-shaped piece of 
ground called the Delta, formerly the college playground, until Memo- 
rial Hall, designed by Ware and Van Brunt, was built there in the 
seventies. The statue in the Delta is an ideal statue of John Harvard, 
whose bequest of his library to the college in 1636 was really its start- 
ing point. It is the work of Daniel C. French, and the gift of Samuel 
J.. Bridge. The exterior of Memorial Hall may perhaps strike the visitor 
as lacking unity and simplicity, but the interior will not disappoint him. 
Memorial Hall proper, where are inscribed the names of those Harvard 
graduates who died in the Civil War, is noble and impressive; and the 
great dining hall, which occupies the whole western end of the building, 
with room for over a thousand students, which is paneled with oak, 
beautified by memorial stained-glass windows, and filled with pictures 
and busts, all of which have an historic and some of which have an 
artistic interest, is probably unique in this country. 

If, before entering Memorial Hall (and Sanders Theatre), we turn to 
the right on leaving the college yard, we shall come first to Nelson 
Robinson Hall, at the comer of Quincy Street and Broadway, the archi- 
tectural building. At Kirkland Street and Divinity Avenue the unusual 
aspect of the Germanic Museum will attract the visitor. The ideas of the 
donors and architect have been consistently executed. 

Of the many other buildings belonging to the university in this neigh- 
borhood only a few can be mentioned. Randall Hall, also at the corner 
of Divinity Avenue, is a good piece of architecture. Once a dining 
hall, it is now used by the University Press. Beyond are the Semitic 
Museum ; Divinity Hall, an unsectarian theological school ; the Univer- 
sity Museum, comprising the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Botan- 
ical Museum, the Mineralogical Museum, the Geological Museum, and the 
Peabody Museum, founded in 1866 by George Peabody, the American 
banker of London. All of these are open to visitors, and all contain 
something to interest even the unscientific person. 

Returning to the vicinity of the yard, mention should be made of 
the Law School building, near the Hemenway Gymnasium, as this 
harbors one of the strongest departments of the university. The 
Harvard Law School has not only a national but an international repu- 
tation, and it has been described by an English jurist as superior to any 
other school of the kind in the world. The building was designed by 
H. H. Richardson, the architect of Sever Hall, to which, however, it is 



WASHINGTON ELM 



109 



scarcely equal. The library contains forty-four thousand volumes. Near 
this hall once stood the yellow gambrel-roofed house in which Dr. Oliver 




Cambridge 

Wendell Holmes was born. The statue of Charles Sumner, by Anne 
Whitney, now at the bead of the Subway entrance, was originally in the 
triangular plot near by. 
Leaving the univer- 
sity buildings we cross 
the Cambridge Com- 
mon to the west of the 
yard, formerly, by the 
way, a place of execu- 
tion, and once the 
scene of an open-air 
sermon by Whitefield. 
Here is a bronz e 
statue of John Bridge, 
the Puritan, in the garb 
of his time, an excellent 
piece of sculpture by 
Thomas R. Gould and 
his son, Marshall S. 

Gould. In the roadway, just west of the Common, stands the time- 
worn Washington Elm, to which is affixed a tablet stating the historic fact 
that under this tree Washington first took command of the American 




\\ AsmNGTf)N Elm 



no 



RADCLIFFE COLLEGE 



army. Opposite the Washington Elm is the group of buildings belong- 
ing to Radcliffe College, the girls' college, a recognized and highly suc- 
cessful part of the university. These buildings are on the corner of 
Garden and Mason streets. 

This venture of giving women instruction in the same studies that were pur- 
sued at Harvard was begun in a small way in 1879. It was not a part of Harvard, 
but, as a humorous student remarked, it was a Harvard Annex. The name came 
into common use. The professors and tutors as a rule were strongly in favor 




Longfellow House 



of the scheme, some even offering to teach for nothing rather than have it fail. 
The Annex was a success. The Fay house on Garden Street was bought. Lady 
Anne Moulson in 1643 had given ;^ioo as a scholarship to Harvard, the first one. 
Her maiden name was Radcliffe, and as the Annex grew it was incorporated as 
RadcUffe College, and now has several fine buildings, a large number of students, 
and its diplomas bear the seal of the older institution and the signature of its 
president. In the Fay house, by the way, in 1836, the words of " Fair Harvard" 
were written by the Rev. Samuel Oilman of Charleston, S.C. 

Returning toward the college we pass Christ Church, which was 
built in 1760 by Peter Harrison, who designed King's Chapel in Bos- 
ton. Washington worshiped here. Adjoining the church is an old 
bur^'ing ground which dates from 1636, the year of the founding of the 
college. Near the fence will be observed a milestone bearing this 
inscription: "Boston, 8 miles. 1734." This was one of many mile- 
Stones set up by Governor Dudley; and what is now a legend was 



LONGFELLOW AND LOWELL HOUSES 



III 



once true, for, before the bridges were constructed over the Charles 
River between Boston and Cambridge, the highway connecting the 
two places ran through Boston Neck and what is now Brighton, and 
was no less than eight miles long. 

Some outlying spots should be visited, if only hurriedly. The Fresh- 
man Dormitories are near the river. The Stadium and Soldiers Field, the 
playground of the university, the gift of Major Henry L. Iligginson, are 
across the river, spanned by the ornamental Anderson Bridge, and nearby 
is the University boathouse, gift of the Harvard Club of New York City. 

Brattle Street, the " Tory Row " of provincial days, is easily reached 
from Harvard Square. Here is the Episcopal Theological School, and 
just above this is 
the Longfellow house, 
one of the finest of 
colonial mansions. It 
was built about the 
year 1759 by Colonel 
JohnVassall, a refugee 
of the Revolution. 
Washington took up 
his headquarters here 
when he removed from 
Wadsworth House, 
and here Madam 
Washington joined 
him. Afterward the 

estate passed into the hands of various owners : was used as a lodging 
house by Harvard professors when the widow Craigie owned it ; was 
occupied by such distinguished persons as Jared Sparks, Edward 
Everett, and Worcester, the dictionary maker ; and finally became the 
home of the poet Longfellow. It is now occupied by a daughter. Miss 
Alice Longfellow, and next to it is the home of another daughter who 
married a public-spirited citizen, Richard H. Dana, son of the distin- 
guished lawyer who wrote " Two Years Before the Mast," and grandson 
of the poet of the same name. About ten minutes' walk on Brattle 
Street beyond the Longfellow house brings us to the corner of Elmwood 
Avenue, which leads past the familiar Lowell house, where James Russell 
Lowell was born, and which was his lifelong home. The seclusion of the 
house, which Lowell so much enjoyed, is now impaired by the parkway 
which skirts the Lowell grove. Mt. Auburn Street itself has been mod- 
ernized by a succession of public hospitals and the like. Back of these 
hospitals, on the river, the curious visitor may behold the site where Leif 




Lowell House 



112 MOUNT AUBURN 

Ericson built his house in the year looi, or thereabout, — according to the 
identification of Professor Eben N. Horsford, whose other memorials of 
supposed Norsemen "we shall encounter later. Close at hand is Mount 
Auburn, celebrated for its natural beauty, as well as for the distinguished 
dead who lie buried here. In the vestibule of the brownstone chapel at 
the left of the entrance to the cemetery are the much-admired statues of 
John Winthrop (by Greenough), John Adams (by Randall Rogers), James 
Otis (by Thomas Crawford), and Joseph Story (by his son). Turning to 
the left we seek Fountain Avenue and the graves of the Rev. Charles 
Lowell, of his son, James Russell Lowell, and of the latter's three 
nephews, all of whom were killed in the Civil War. " Some choice 
New England stock in that little plot of ground." On the ridge back 
of this lot is the monument of Longfellow, and near by (on Lime 
Avenue) the grave of Holmes. If, instead of turning to the left from 
the entrance, we ascend the hill to the right, passing the statue of Bow- 
ditch, the mathematician, we shall come to the old Gothic chapel now 
used as a crematory. Facing this stands the famous Sphinx, the work 
of Martin Milmore. Among other monuments in various parts of the 
cemetery are those of William Ellery Channing (Green-Briar Path), 
Hosea Ballou (Central Avenue), Charles Sumner (Arethusa Path), 
Edward Everett (Magnolia Avenue), Charlotte Cushman (Palm 
Avenue), Edwin Booth (Anemone Path), Louis Agassiz (Bellwort 
Path), Anson Burlingame (Spruce Avenue), Samuel G. Howe (near 
Spruce Avenue), and Phillips Brooks (Mimosa Path). On Halcyon 
Avenue is the tomb of Mary Baker Eddy. 

From the cemetery a Huron Avenue car will take us to the Astro- 
nomical Observatory, and by walking through the observatory grounds we 
can reach the Harvard Botanic Garden, laid out in 1807. This garden, 
open to the public, is full of interesting features, such as a bed of 
Shakespearean flowers, another of flow^ers mentioned by Virgil, and still 
another of such quaint plants as grew in an old-time New England garden. 

The sight-seeing resources of Cambridge are not yet exhausted, but 
the sight-seer may be ; and so from the Botanic Garden we will take 
a car Bostonward, stopping, however, at the Subway for a finishing 
tour about Harvard Square. At the corner of Dunsier Street we may 
observe the site, marked by a tablet, of the house of Stephen Daye, first 
printer in British America, 163S-1648. Here were printed the " Bay Psalm- 
Book " and Eliot's Indian Bible. Farther down Dunster Street, at the 
corner of Mt. Auburn Street, is marked the site of the first meetinghouse 
in Cambridge, set up in 1632; and still farther down, at the corner of 
South Street, that of the house of Thomas Dudley, founder of Cambridge, 
who lived here in 1630. 



BROOKLINE, NEWTON, AND WELLESLEY 113 

BROOKLINE, NEWTON, AND WELLESLEY 

Brookline is the richest suburb of Boston and in many respects the 
most attractive, with numerous beautiful estates and tasteful "villas" and 
charming drives. During all the years since its population entitled it to 
a city charter its people have steadfastly refused to give up their primi- 
tive government by the New England town meeting, just as they have 
declined all propositions looking to annexation to Boston, although their 
territory is embraced on three sides by the encroaching municipality. 

Many of the fine estates that make Brookline attractive are not seen 
from any of the car lines running through it. If one can command a 
motor car a delightful trip is in prospect. It is difficult and unimportant 
to notice the frontiers between Boston and Brookline and many of the 
other towns and cities in the Metropolitan District. 

The Riverway passes out of Boston through the Fens, following the 
line of Muddy River through Brookline into Olmstead Park, in the Jamaica 
Plain district of Boston. Here connection is made with the Arnold Arbo- 
retum, West Roxbury district (the territory of the Bussey Institution, 
Harvard University), which in turn connects with the extensive Frank- 
lin Park lying between the Roxbury, West Roxbury, and Dorchester 
districts. This lovely chain of parkways and parks from the Back Bay dis- 
trict is continued by Dorchesterway and the Strandway to Marine Park at 
City Point, South Boston. The most important parts of the Riverway, in- 
cluding the main driveway, lie within Boston limits, while some of its most 
charming features and scenic effects are found in the Brookline section. 

Village Square is a junction for trolley lines. In this neighborhood 
many of the buildings are more utilitarian than elegant. Along Wash- 
ington Street, after passing the business center, are the substantial 
granite Town Hall and the Public Library. An electric car will bring the 
visitor to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, through which flows the great part 
of the water supply of Boston. The grounds surrounding the twin lakes 
of the Reservoir have been taken by the Metropolitan Water Board and 
converted into Reservoir Park, one of the most restful and charming 
pleasure grounds to be found in the neighborhood of any great city. 

Commonwealth Avenue skirts the park and here, at Lake Street, is 
the boundary line between Boston and Newton. At this point is a trans- 
fer station where cars may be taken for the various villages in the city 
of Newton and the towns beyond. Boston College (Roman Cathohc) has 
recently occupied the heights just over the Newton line. The beautiful 
i'^u'tvand group of buildings overlook Chestnut Hill Reservoir. Newton 
Boulevard, which is an extension of Commonwealth Avenue from Boston, 
stretches out in graceful, sweeping curves for about five miles to 



ri4 WALTHAM AND WATERTOWN 

Norumbega Park and the stone bridge crossing the Charles River to 
Weston, Other towns and cities whose frontiers touch Newton are 
A'eed/ia/>i, W'ellesley, IValthant, and IVatej-towti. Wellesley's chief fame 
lies in Wellesley College for women, which crowns the rounded hilltops 
on the north side of Waban Lake, toward which its 300 acres of grounds 
gently slope. 

WALTHAM AND WATERTOWN 

In Waltham, Prospect Hill, 482 feet above sea level, is the highest 
eminence in the Metropolitan District except the great Blue Hill in 
Milton. On a clear day one may see the mountains of southern New 
Hampshire as well as those of central Massachusetts. It is quite prob- 
able that the visitor may note that his timepiece was manufactured at 
the works of the American Waltham Watch Company. These, the largest 
watch factories in the world, are on the banks of the Charles River. 

On lower Main Street, and near the Watertown line, is the famous 
old " Governor Gore Mansion." Governor Gore, the builder, was a friend 
of Washington, governor and senator of Massachusetts, and donor of 
the first Harvard College Library, which was named for him — Gore Hall. 

Watertown is easily reached from Newton, Waltham, and Cambridge. 
On the river front, occupying a commanding position on rising ground, 
is the beautiful tower and the dignified group of buildings comprising 
the Perkins Institution for the Blind. This institution was founded in 
1826, developed by Dr. Samuel G. Howe after 1829, and removed to its 
present place in 1912 from its original site in South Boston. Down the 
river is the United States Arsenal. The older buildings are easily rec- 
ognized and are in sharp contrast to the newer construction which 
sprang up during the hectic days of the World War. The route toward 
Cambridge and Boston which has most of historic interest is that by 
Mo2iJii A2ibiir)i Street, which leads out of \Vaterto7i<n Square. Numerous 
tablets mark sites which will arrest the progress of the visitor. 

MILTON, THE BLUE HILLS, QUINCY, AND DEDHAM 

The Neponset River at Milton Lower Mills is the frontier between 
Boston and Milton. Only a little way beyond the bridge, on the Milton 
side, stands the "Suffolk Resolves" House, which has been called the 
" birthplace of American Liberty." In this house a convention of dele- 
gates from the Suffolk County towns met September 9, 1774, and 
adopted resolutions which " lead the way to American Independence." 
They had held their first session in the old Woodward Tavern at Dedham 
a day or two before. Paul Revere was the messenger who carried the 
Resolves to Philadelphia. 



MILTON 



15 



The visitor should walk on Adams Street to the crest of Milton Hill. 
All along the way he finds old estates which have been handed down 
from generation to generation of families noted in local, and some in 
national, annals. Here stands a house of modern exterior, well back from 
the street, which is in part the historic house of Governor Hutchinson, — his 
country seat. It is grati- 
fying to observe that the 
great field in front has 
been taken for a public 
reservaiiojt, so that the 
lovely prospect is saved 
from the obstruction of 
buildings. If one wishes 
to visit the old Town 
Cemetery, Milton Acad- 
emy, and Milton Center, 
attractive roads to the 
right lead in their direc- 
tion. The extensive es- 
tatesof Milton areamong 
the most beautiful in the 
suburbs of Boston. 

The Blue Hills Reser- 
vation is partly in the 
town of Milton. The 
weather observatory on 
the summit of the Great 
Blue Hill is in plain 
sight for a considerable 
distance. 

One may easily approach Quincy from Milton. In West Quincy, 
adjoining East Milton, are the quarries which give to Quincy the title 
of the " Granite City." The points of historic interest are within short 
radius of Quincy Square. The "Granite Temple," — the present First 
Parish Church, — built in 1828, is so called from a phrase in the will of 
John Adams, who, in leaving to the town certain granite quarries, en- 
joined upon his townsmen to build " a temple " to receive his remains. 
The interior contains among the mural monuments those commemo- 
rating the two Presidents of the Adams family and John Wheelwright, 
the first minister, banished for " heresy," with Anne Hutchinson and 
others. In the basement, beneath the church, are the tombs of the two 
Presidents. Close by is the old burying ground where are the graves of 




U*i%... \m^^ 






Im'^^^ 



Observatory, Great Blue Hill 



ii6 



QUINCY AND DEDHAM 




Home of Dorothy Quincy 



the early ministers of the parish, among them John Hancock, father 
of the famous "signer" and governor. Here also are buried the first 
of the Quincys, Edmund and Josiah Quincy, Jr. On Adams Street stands 
the famous Adams Mansion, the home of President John Adams from 

1787 till his death. In it was 
celebrated his golden wedding 
and the weddings of his son 
John Quincy Adams and of 
his grandson Charles Francis 
Adams, Sr. 

On Hancock Street is the old 
Quincy mansion house, containing 
some part of the original dwell- 
ing of Edmund Quincy, built 
about 1634; the present struc- 
ture dates from 1705. Here 
was born Dorothy Quincy, the 
original of Dr. Holmes's poem 
" Dorothy Q.," whose granddaughter was the poet's mother. Another 
Dorothy Quincy, descendant of the first, was the wife of John Hancock. 
At the corner of hidepoidence Street and Franklin Avenue are two 
very old houses standing close together and maintained as sacred 
memorials. The older and smaller house is the birthplace of John Adams. 
The other and larger house is the 
birthplace of John Quincy Adams. Mount 
Wollaston, the high ground in the direc- 
tion of Boston, was the "Merrymount" 
of Thomas Morton, whose revels with 
his crew of graceless roysterers and 
his Maypole, set up in 1627, caused his 
banishment by the stern Puritan elders. 
The zealous antiquarian might spend 
days in tracing out the historic sites 
and in viewing the historic mansions of 
Quincy. On the outskirts of Quincy are the Fore River Works, where 
many ships were built for the Navy during the World War. 

Dedham, to the west of Milton, joins the Hyde Park district of Boston. 
It is one of the oldest suburban towns and contains several interesting 
houses of the Colonial and Revolutionary periods. The Old Woodward 
Tavern, dating from 1658, stood in Aines Street. It was here that the 
Suffolk Convention met in 1774, which at its adjourned meeting in 
Milton adopted the Suffolk Resolves (see p. 114). 







Birthplace of John Adams 



WINTHROP AND REVERE 



117 




Old Fairbanks House 



Along Eastern A^'emie is the way to the Fairbanks house, built about 
1650 by Jonathan Fairbanks. In 1903 the " Fairbanks Family in 
America," being incorporated, acquired the property in order to keep it 
permanently in the family as an historic home. Only a short distance 
from the Fairbanks house 
is the "Avery Oak." It is a 
great tree, older than the 
town, for which the builders 
of Old Ironsides are said to 
have offered $75. 

WmXHROP AND REVERE 

Winthrop and Revere, two 
well-known seashore towns, 
areatthenortheast of Boston. 
Much of the history of the 
two communities is identical. 

Winthrop is named in commemoration of Deane Winthrop, sixth son of 
Governor John Winthrop, who lived here for many years. His old house, 
built about 1640, is well cared for by the Winthrop Improvement Society 
and is easily reached from Winthrop Beach. The famous Revere Beach 
with the great beach boulevard of the Metropolitan Parks System is a 

modern seaside resort for 
the people. 

CHELSEA AND EVERETT 

Chelsea and Everett are 
north of Boston and are 
within a six-mile radius of 
its city hall. Powderhorn 
Hill, in Chelsea, has at its 
summit the Massachusetts 
Soldiers' Home. Mount 
Washington, to the north- 
west of Powderhorn Hill, lies mostly in Everett. In Washington Park, 
maintained by the Chelsea Park Commission, are some souvenirs of 
the Siege of Boston. The United States Naval Hospital and the Marine 
Hospital are in Chelsea. Where the Island End River joins the Mystic 
River stood Samuel Maverick's fortified house, built in 1624-1625. It was 
here that Maverick entertained Governor Winthrop and his associate 
leaders on their first coming in 1630. 




Winthrop Boulevard 



ii8 SOMERVILLE AND MEDFORD 



SOMERVILLE AND MEDFORD 

In Somerville, the third in size of the cities about Boston, is Prospect 
Hill, the site of the most formidable works in the American hnes during 
the Siege of Boston. Here the Union flag with its thirteen stripes was 
first hoisted, January i, 1776. A stone tower is at the crest of the hill. 

Central Hill beyond is also associated with the Revolution. Its summit 
is an open, parklike space, at the easterly end of which is observed a 
miniature redoubt with cannon mounted. This is intended to mark the 
site of French's Redoubt thrown up after the battle of Bunker Hill. In 
this highland common are grouped a series of public buildings, — the 
City Hall, Public Library, and Somerville High School. 

On Winter Hill, northward, stood another Continental fort, the chief 
one, connected with the Central Hill battery and the citadel on Pros- 
pect Hill by a line of earthworks. Over on Spring Hill, to the west, 
Lord Percy's artillery for a time covered the retreat of his tired infantry 
on that memorable 19th of April. On Elm Street at the corner of 
Willow Avenue near Davis Square, West Somerville, a tablet records 
a sharp fight at this point and marks graves of British soldiers here. 
Not far from Davis Square, in a little park, stands the picturesque as 
well as historic Old Powder House. This was first a mill, built about 
1703, becoming a powder house in 1747. General Gage seized the two 
hundred and fifty half-barrels of powder there September i, 1774, and 
in 1775 it became the magazine of the American army besieging Boston. 

To the northwest from this park it is but a few minutes' walk through 
College Avenue to the pleasant grounds of Tufts College, which covers 
nearly all of College Hill in the town of Medford and commands a wide 
prospect of the surrounding country. We enter Professors Row, which 
follows the curve of the hill to the left, and pass the houses of the pres- 
ident and others of the faculty. To the right, on the crest of the hill, 
reached by a broad walk under lofty elms, stand the chief buildings of 
the college. The radio tower, 360 feet high, is the tallest in New Eng- 
land. Jackson College, for women, is affiliated with Tufts College. 

From the college grounds it is a pleasant walk to Main Street, Medford. 
Between George and Royall streets we come upon the Royall mansion 
house, built in 1738. An earlier house on its site, erected before 1690 
it is said, was utilized in its construction. A building at one side was 
originally the slave quarters, the only structure of its kind remainin-g in 
Massachusetts. In 1775 the mansion was the headquarters of Stark's 
division of the Continental army. Another relic is the Craddock house, 
said to date from 1634, and so entitled to- the distinction of being the 
oldest existing house in the country. 



PUBLIC PARKS 119 

III. PUBLIC PARKS 

BOSTON CITY SYSTEM 

Boston Common, 48? acres. Central District. Bounded by Tremont, 
Park, Beacon, Charles, and Boylston streets. 

Public Garden, 24^^ acres. Edge of Back Bay District. Bounded by 
Charles, Beacon, Arlington, and Boylston streets. 

Riverbank. Along the Charles River Basin in the rear of Charles and 
, Beacon streets ; its most attractive feature a broad esplanade. 

Commonwealth Avenue Parkway. Back Bay District, Commonwealth 
Avenue from Arlington Street to entrance of Back Bay Fens. 

Back Bay Fens, 1 15 acres. Back Bay District, from the Charles River 
to beginning of Riverway. Reached from Charlesgate. 

Riverway, 40 acres. Back Bay District and boundary between Boston 
and Brookline. 

Olmsted Park, 180 acres. Joins Riverway on the south. Formerly Lev- 
erett Park, 60 acres (the boundary line between Roxbury District 
and Brookline) ; Jamaicaway, mostly in Jamaica Plain, West Rox- 
bury District; and Jamaica Park, 120 acres (Jamaicaway connects 
the two), in Jamaica Plain. These were combined under the new 
name in 1903, in honor of Frederic Law Olmsted, the landscape 
architect. Jamaica Pond occupies most of the area of the old 
Jamaica Park part. On the western shore of this pond is the 
Francis Parkman Memorial, designed by Daniel C. French. 

Arborway, 36 acres. Connecting Olmsted Park with the Arnold 
Arboretum, and the latter, in turn, with Franklin Park. 

Arnold Arboretum and Bussey Park, 223 acres. West Roxbury Dis- 
trict, continuing the system southward from Olmsted Park. The 
largest tree museum in the world, and a place of great natural 
attraction. Here is established the Bussey Institute, the school 
of horticulture and agriculture of Harvard University, which owns 
and maintains the Arboretum. 

West Roxbury Parkway, 150 acres. West Roxbury District, connect- 
ing the Arnold Arboretum with the Stony Brook Reservation of 
the Metropolitan Parks System. 

Franklin Park, 527 acres. Between Roxbury, West Roxbury, and 
Dorchester districts. Has a Zoological Garden, including an open- 
air aviary and bear dens ; also 36 acres playground area. 

Dorchester Park, 26 acres. Near Milton Lower Mills, Dorchester Dis- 
trict. A natural park, very rocky and thickly wooded. 



I20 PUBLIC PARKS 

Dorchesterway, 6 acres. Dorchester District, connecting Franklin 

Park and the Strandway, via Columbia Road. 
Strandway, 260 acres. South Boston. Borders the shore of Old 

Harbor, extending to the Marine Park at City Point. 
Marine Park, connected with Castle Island (Fort Independence), 161.44 

acres. South Boston. Bathing beach with city bath house ; long 

pier extending out into the harbor and a breakwater, forming a 

pleasure bay for small boats. Has an Aquarium. 
Governor's Island, 73 acres. 
Wood Island Park, 55.60 acres. Harbor side of East Boston, toward 

Governor's Island. Public bathing houses, gymnasiums. 
Charlestown Heights, 6.10 acres. Charlestown District. Summit of 

Bunker Hill, overlooking the Mystic River. 
North End Beach and Copp's Hill Terrace, 7.30 acres. North End. 

Bathing beach and playground for children. 
Charlesbank, 10 acres. West End. Lies along the Charles River from 

Craigie Bridge to Cambridge Bridge. Open-air gymnasium. 
Rogers Park, 69 acres. Brighton District. 
Chestnut Hill Park, 55-40 acres. Brighton District. Surrounding the 

Chestnut Hill Reservoir. Beautiful grounds, trees, and shrubs. 



METROPOLITAN SYSTEM 

Nantasket Beach Reservation, 25.59 acres. Hull. Splendid bathing. 

Quincy Shore, 38.02 acres. Quincy. Along the shore of Quincy Bay. 

Blue Hills Reservation, 4906.43 acres. Milton, Quincy, Braintree, Ran- 
dolph, and Canton. Includes the higher portion of the Blue Hill 
range. Wild rocky heights ; widespreading views in all directions. 

Neponset River Banks, 922.59 acres. Boston, Dedham, Westwood, 
Milton, and Canton. 

Stony Brook Reservation, 463.72 acres. Boston. Densely wooded 
hills ; Muddy Pond ; fine driveways. 

Charles River Banks, 709.51 acres. Boston, Cambridge, Watertown, 
Waltham. Weston, Newton, and Wellesley. 

Beaver Brook and Waverley Oaks Reservation, 58.33 acres. Belmont 
and Waltham. Contains the famous old oak trees. 

Hemlock Gorge Reservation, 23.06 acres. Newton, Needham, and 
Wellesley. The Charles River cuts its way here through a narrow 
gorge. Echo Bridge is across the river above the gorge, — a 
symmetrical piece of masonry, with a wonderful echo beneath it. 



METROPOLITAN SYSTEM 



12 1 




Beach 



Middlesex Fells, 1845.77 acres. Maiden, Melrose, Stoneham, Med- 

ford, and Winchester. Beautiful scenery, — hills, ponds, brooks, 

ledo-es, and forest; splendid walks and drives. 
Mystic River Banks, 290.68 acres. 'Somerville, Medford, and Arlington. 
Winthrop Shore Reservation, 16.S3 acres. Winthrop. Extends along 

the ocean front for about a mile. A boulevard with sidewalks 

on both sides. View 

of ocean, Nahant, 

and outer islands. 
Revere Beach Reserva- 
tion, 64.99 acres. 

Revere. A broad 

boulevard with walks 

extending along the 

ocean for about two 

miles. State bath 

house. The beach 

superb and the bath- 
ing excellent. 
King's Beach and Lynn Shore Reservation, 22.69 acres. Along the 

ocean front of parts of Lynn and Swampscott. 
Lynn Woods, Free Public Forest, 2000 acres. Comprising woodland 

of great natural beauty, maintained by the Lynn Park Commission. 

The second largest municipal pleasure ground in the United States. 
Hart's Hill, 22.97 acres. Wakefield. 
Governor Hutchinson Field. Milton. View of the Neponset River and 

its meadows, Boston city and harbor, and Massachusetts Bay. 

PARKWAYS 

Furnace Brook, 4.320 miles in length. Quincy. 

Blue Hills, 2.265 miles. Boston and Milton. 

Neponset River, 2.260 miles. Hyde Park and Milton. 

West Roxbury, 1.5 10 miles. Boston, West Roxbury District. 

Fresh Pond, .520 mile. Cambridge. 

Middlesex Fells, 5.105 miles. Maiden, Medford, Somerville. 

Mystic Valley, 8.010 miles. Medford, Winchester. 

Revere Beach, 5.240 miles. Revere, Chelsea, Everett, Medford. 

Lynnway, .690 mile. Revere, Lynn. 

Nahant Beach, 2.230 miles. Nahant. 

Lynn Fells, I.I 20 miles. Melrose, Stoneham. 

V/inthrop, .90 mile. Revere. [Belmont. 

Alewife Brook, 3.187 miles. Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, 



122 



LEXINGTON 



IV. DAY TRIPS FROM BOSTON 



LEXINGTON AND CONCORD 



Both Lexington and Concord may be included in a single trip. Lexing- 
ton is eleven miles and Concord is twenty miles from Boston. These 
towns divide the honors of the opening scene of the Revolution. On 
April 19, 1775, the British marched to destroy the military stores 
gathered by the American forces at Concord. They passed through 
Arlington and East Lexington and entered Lexington, to meet their 

first resistance be- 
fore continuing to 
Concord. At Con- 
cord Bridge a large 
number of minute- 
men had assembled. 
The British faced 
a withering fire. 
They fell back and 
began their retreat 
to Boston. One 
may approach these 
historic sites by 
several ways. The 
Lexington electric Car line 

through Cambridge 
and x\rlington runs, much of the distance, over the route of Paul 
Revere's ride. Through Arlington and East Lexington one must be 
on the lookout for tablets, and memorials of the British invasion. As one 
nears Lexington, an object of interest is Miuiroe's Ta^'cru. On its face 
is a tablet thus inscribed : " Earl Percy's headquarters and hospital, 
April 19, 1775. The Munroe Tavern built 1695." Percy occupied 
the room on the left of the entrance door, and this was made the 
temporary hospital. The room on the right was the taproom, where 
the soldiers were freely supplied with liquor. Washington dined 
at Munroe's Tavern when on his last journey through New England 
in 1789. 

Arrived at Lexington Green^ — the Common where the "battle" 
occurred, — the visitor will find every point of importance designated 
by a monument or tablet. Thus at the lower end is the stone pulpit 
marking the site of the first three meetinghouses, a " spot identified 




LEXINGTON 123 

with the town's history for one hundred and fifty years." Near by is a 
bronze statue of a yeoman with gun in hand standing on a heap of 
rocks. Where the minutemen were Uned up is indicated by a bowlder 
in.scribed with the words of Captain Parker : " Stand your ground. Don't 
fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." 
On the west side of the ground is the old stone niomunent, now in a 
beautiful mantle of ivy, which the State erected in 1799, and for which 
the patriot minister of Lexington, Jonas Clarke, wrote the oratorical 
inscription. In a stone vault back of it are deposited the remains of 
those who fell in the engagement, which were removed to this place 
from their common grave in the village burying ground. With the 
modern houses about the green are three which were standing at the 
time of the battle. On the north side is a house in an old garden 
which was the Bucktnan Tavern, " a rendezvous of the minutemen, a 
mark for British bullets," as the tablet on its face states. On the 
south side a plain white house bears the legend, " A witness of the 
battle." On the west side, at the corner of Bedford Street, is a 
house in which lived Jonathan Harrington, who, "wounded on the 
Common " in the engagement, " dragged himself to the door and died 
at his wife's feet." A few steps from the Unitarian Church, on this 
side, is a lane with a bowlder at its comer marked " Ye Old Buiying- 
Ground 1690." Among the many quaintly inscribed gravestones here 
are the tombs of the ministers John Hancock, grandfather of Gov- 
ernor John Hancock, and Jonas Clarke, and monuments to Captain 
Parker of the minutemen and Governor William Eustis, who was 
a student with General Joseph Warren and served as a surgeon at 
Bunker Hill and through the war. He was governor of the State 
in 1823-1825. 

On Hancock Street is the historic Haiicock-Clarke house (moved 
from its original site on the opposite side of the way), the home of the 
ministers, first Hancock and then Clarke. Here John Hancock and 
Samuel Adarns were stopping the night before the battle, and were 
roused at midnight from their sleep by Paul Revere, when they were 
taken by their guard to Captain James Reed's in Burlington. The 
venerable house is now a museum of Revolutionary relics. In the. 
Town Hall, below the green, are the Memorial Hall and Carey Public 
Library, in which is a larger museum of relics, with numerous portraits, 
old prints, and Major Pitcairn's pistols, captured during the retreat. 
Here are statues of The Minuteman of '75; The Union Soldier; John 
Hancock, by Thomas R. Gould; and Samuel Adams, by Martin 
Milmore. In the public hall above is a fine painting of the Battle of 
Lexington by Henry Sandham. 



124 



CONCORD 




Concord 



Because of its historic and literary associations, and its natural beau- 
ties, Coiicofd \\^.s been called "the most interesting village in America." 
The heart of the town is the square in the center, where the most 

conspicuous object 



is the Unitarian 
C/uor/i, destroyed 
by fire in 1900, and 
wisely rebuilt on the 
old simple and digni- 
fied lines. This was 
the site of a still older 
meetinghouse, where 
the Provincial Con- 
gress sat. Next to it 
is the J Frig/it Tavern ^ 
dating from 1747. 
Here Major Pitcairn 
drank his toddy on 
the day of the fight. 
Taking the Lex- 
ington road from the 
"^ square we pass, first, 

the Concord Atitiqnarian Society'' s house, full of relics and old fu'rniture, 
and, a little farther, on a road diverging to the right, the Emerson house, 
where Ralph Waldo Emerson lived the greater part of his life and 
where he died. Return- 
ing to Lexington Street 
and proceeding about a 
quarter of a mile, we come 
to the School of Philoso- 
phy and Alcott house. The 
unpainted, chapel-like 
building was the home of 
the school, and the house 
near it was the " Orchard 
Mouse," in which the 
Alcott family lived for 
twenty years. Here Louisa M. Alcott wrote " Little Women," which 
turned the tide in the family's fortunes. Just beyond is The Wayside, 
also occupied at one time by the Alcotts, but better known as the home 
of Hawthorne after his return from Europe. Here the family were 
living at the time of Hawthorne's sudden death in New Hampshire. 




1: Alcott House 



CONCORD 



25 



Returning to the square, we ascend, on the right, the old Hillside 
Burying Ground. Here are historic graves, including those of Emerson's 
grandfather and Major John Buttrick, who led the fight at the Old North 
Bridge ; and some unique epitaphs, especially that of John Jack, the slave. 
It is a short walk to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Here, on a high ridge be- 
yond the beautiful hollow which gives the cemetery its name, are the 
graves of Hawthorne, of Emerson, of Thoreau, of Louisa M. Alcott and 
her father. Near the foot of this slope should not be overlooked the 
Hoar family lot and the beautiful epitaphs placed by the late Judge Hoar 
upon the monuments to his father 
and to his brother. The inscrip- 
tion'on the Soldiers' Monument 
in the square was also written 
by Judge Hoar. 

Returning once more to the 
square, and proceeding thence 
on Monument Street for about 
three quarters of a mile, the 
Old Manse, where Emerson 
wrote "Nature," and Hawthorne 
lived for a time, is seen on the 
left, standing back from the 
road. This house was built ten 
years before the battle at the 
bridge close by. The wooded 
lane just beyond the Old Manse 
leads to the scene of the battle at 
the Old A^ojih Bridge, the story 
of which is told by the inscriptions 
on the monuments there. Most 
pathetic is the simple inscrip- 
tion which marks the graves of unknown British soldiers killed on the 
spot. French's bronze Minuteman fitly stands on the opposite side of 
the river, at about the point where the Americans made their attack. 

The Concord Public Library, reached quickly from the square, con- 
tains some interesting busts and pictures and a collection — astonish- 
ingly large — of books written by residents of Concord. Near the 
corner of Thoreau Street and secluded by a hedge of trees is the 
Thoreau House. Here Thoreau lived during the last twelve years of 
his life, and here he died of consumption. The Alcott family also lived 
in this house for several years. The site of Thoreau's hut by Walden 
Pond is marked by a cairn made by visitors. 




Battle Monument 



126 BOSTON HARBOR 



BOSTON HARBOR AND MASSACHUSETTS BAY 

Frequent references have already been made to Boston Harbor as 
seen from the shore. A trip down the harbor on one of the excursion 
boats will be anticipated by many visitors. During the summer months 
suggestions for pleasant harbor trips will be found in the advertisements 
in the daily papers. The activities of the port of Boston can best be 
imagined by cruising among the tugs and ferryboats, the sailing vessels 
and ocean] liners, and viewing the six miles of docking space from the 
harbor itself. Boston Harbor is dotted with many islands. On some of 
these are forts ; on others hospitals and various institutions are estab- 
lished. Toward the city the Custom House Tower is the conspicuous 
landmark. The outermost limit of the harbor is Boston Light, on Little 
Brewster Island. 

For many years the shores of Massachusetts Bay have been made use 
of as summer watering-places both by the inhabitants of Boston and the 
surrounding towns, and by people from a distance. Many are the argu- 
ments as to the respective merits of the north and south shores. 



THE NORTH SHORE 

The North Shore extends from the limits of the city of 'Boston at 
Winthrop to Cape Ann. Lynn, about twelve miles distant from Boston, 
is a great shoe city and a point of approach to Nahant, the oldest of 
eastern summer resorts, occupying a rocky promontory. On the extreme 
point is the summer home of Henry Cabot Lodge. From Lynn we may 
reach Salem by way of Swampscott and Marblehead. This is a pleasant 
route passing many summer homes and traversing the Lynn Shore 
Resen>aiion which, at its northern end, joins Ring's Beach in Swampscott. 
Passing Beach Bluff 2S\^ Clifton Heights, wt come to Marblehead, the 
quaint, irregular town with crooked streets full of old-time suggestions. 
Marblehead is famous as a rendezvous for yachtsmen. At Marblehead 
Neck, the Eastern and the Corinthian Vacht Club have accommodations 
for their members. The Boston Yacht Club has its establishment on 
the town side of the harbor. The features of Marblehead include the 
old town hall ; St. Michael's, the oldest Episcopal church now standing 
in New England ; the old " Floyd Ireson " House ; the home and tomb 
of General John Glover, whose statue is in Boston (see p. 78) and the 
birthplace of Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. During the World War hydroplanes, manufactured at the Curtiss 
plant in Marblehead, were tried out in the harbor. 




■WIIUCMESTER 

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Massachusetts Bay 



I2S 



THE NORTH SHORE 



Salem, once the chief port of New England, was settled in 1626. 
From Salem came John Winthrop and his companions to the founding 
of Boston. A day might well be devoted to Salem alone. Here are 
many stately, reposeful old houses: the Custom House, in which Haw- 
thorne was employed ; the County Jail and Court House, in which many 
relics of the witchcraft persecution are preserved ; Gallows Hill, where 
the condemned were hung ; the house on Federal Street in which 
Lafayette was entertained in 17S4 and Washington in 1789; Hawthorne's 




Salem 



birthplace on Union Street, and various Hawthorne homes and land- 
marks ; and the Pickering mansion, built in 1649. ^^^re also are the 
Essex Institute and the Peabody Academy of Science, with their inter- 
esting collections of documents, relics, and curiosities, many of them 
redolent of the sea and foreign commerce. The oldest house now 
standing in Salem is at the corner of Essex and North streets, the IVitch 
House, so called persistently without warrant beyond the tradition that 
some of the preliminary examinations of accused persons were held 
here, it being at the time of the delusion the dwelling of Judge Jonathan 
Corwin of the court. It is said to have been earlier the home of Roger 
Williams (in 163 5- 1636). 

Beverly, settled in 1628, is now a shoe town in one part and a sum- 
mer resort in other parts. There are many elaborate estates, wooded 
parks and drives, here and in Pride's Crossing, Beverly Farms, West 
Manchester, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Magnolia. Beyond, nestling under 
the protection of Eastern Point, is Gloucester, settled in 1623, next to 
Boston the greatest fishing port on the coast. At the extreme tip of 
Cape Ann is Rockport. 



THE SOUTH SHORE 129 



THE S.OUTH SHORE 



Leaving Boston at Neponset Bridge one approaches the Pilgrim 
Boulevard and the Quincy Shore Reservation of the Metropolitan Parks 
System. This is a direct route to Squaiitum, IVolIaston Beach, historic 
MeTtymount, Hough's Neck, and Nantasket. Attractive clubhouses of 
well-known yacht clubs are at Wollaston Beach and Hough's Neck. 

The pleasant places along the South Shore between Quinc> (see 
p. 115) and Plymouth are brought into connection with Boston and with 
each other by electric-car systems, while the steam railroad traverses 
the country closest to the shore. Steamboat excursions can be made to 
many points such as Nantasket Beach and Plymouth. 

Hingham is one of the loveliest as well as one of the oldest towns in 
Massachusetts (settled in 1633). Its broad main street is shaded by 
magnificent elms. Its Old Ship Church, with pyramidal roof and bel- 
fry, dating from 1681, is the oldest existing meetinghouse in the country, 
and the quaintest. The Tcnoer and Chime of Bells here is a unique me- 
morial to the ancient settlers of the town. In the burying ground close 
by are the graves of two governors of Massachusetts: John A. Andrew, 
governor during the Civil War, and John D. Long, Secretary of the 
Navy during the Spanish-American War. Nantasket Beach is beyond 
Hingham. Its long, hard stretch of sand faces the open ocean and is 
one of the finest bathing beaches in America. It is a part of the Metro- 
politan Park System, with a state bathhouse. 

Cohasset has an irregular rocky coast, commanding a wide extent of 
ocean prospect. On and about its quite renowned Jei-iisalem Road are 
numerous extensive estates with elaborate houses and grounds. The 
granite lighthouse seen rising from the ocean is Minot's Light. 

Scituate also enjoys a beautiful ocean front, with fair beaches and a 
pretty harbor, protected by rocky cliffs. This town is the scene of Sam- 
uel Woodworth's lyric, " The Old Oaken Bucket." 

Marshfield was the country home of Daniel Webster. The Webster 
place originally included a part of " Careswell," the domain of the Ply- 
mouth Colony governor Edward Winslow. Half a mile back from it is 
the tomb of Webster with the epitaph which he dictated the day before 
his death (1852). 

Duxbury, the home of Elder Brewster, Miles Standish, and John and 
Priscilla Alden, is marked by the Standish Monument on Captain's Hill, 
which looms up in the landscape, visible in a wide extent of country 
round about. In about the middle of the village, in the oldest of its 
burying grounds, the supposed grai'e of Standish is marked by a monu- 



130 THE SOUTH SHORE 

ment. Here are also graves of the Alden family, and possibly the grave 
of Elder Brewster. 

Kingston, part of Plymouth till 1726, is a typical Old Colony town, 
with a cheerful air of substantiality. 

Marked changes have come to Plymouth in connection with the cele- 
bration (December 21, 1920) of the three hundredth anniversary of the 
landing of the Pilgrims. Plymouth Rock itself, on which the followers 
of Bradford stepped, has been reset in its original place and a fitting 
memorial now protects the unusual landmark. Especially along the 
waterfront, formerly disfigured by wharves, are well-planned improve- 
ments commemorating the founding of the first permanent settlement 
in New England. Cole's Hill, where the first rude houses were built, 
has been transformed into a wooded park suggestive of the topography 
of the region three hundred years ago. Pilgrim Hall, near the town 
center, is the repository of pilgrim antiquities. The collection includes 
the sword of Miles Standish and the chairs of Elder Brewster and 
Governor Bradford. The collection of paintings and prints and other 
historical objects is of great interest and value. In the County Court- 
house are documents of Pilgrim days, including papers containing the 
signatures of Bradford and Standish. Leyden Street, the first and chief 
Pilgrim street, leads to Burial Hill. Here were the first forts, which 
served also as meetinghouses. There are many graves here of the early 
settlers ; conspicuous among them is that of Governor Bradford. The 
Old Powder Magazine has recently been restored. Watson's Hill, where 
the first Indians appeared to the colonists, and whence came the 
friendly Samoset, and after him Massasoit, lies to the southward of 
Burial Hill. Below is seen the Town Brook crossing, where Massasoit 
and his braves were met by the Puritan leaders, from which meeting 
resulted the famous " league of peace." To the north of the town, 
built on a hill commanding a fine view of the harbor, is the National 
Monument, a great granite pile surmounted by the colossal figure of Faith. 

Beyond Plymouth, Cape Cod, dotted with well-known summer resorts, 
stretches a curved arm into the Atlantic. At the tip of the Cape is 
Provincetown, where the Pilgrims landed on their way to Plymouth, 
November 11, 1620. The Pilgrim Monument, here dedicated in 1910, 
is a conspicuous sea mark for mariners. 



INDEX 



Adams, Charles Francis, Sr., 34, 48, 70, 1 16 

Adains, John, 13, 14, 33, 112, 115, 116 

Adams, John Quincy, 13, 14, 34. ii5> ''6 

Adams, Samuel, 13, 14, 15, 16, 26, 27, 48, 
123 

Adams mansion, Qumcy, 116 

Adams Square, Boston, 16 

Agassiz, Louis, 1 12 

Alcott, A. Bronson, 71 

Alcott, Louisa M., 71, 124, 125 

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, 70, 71, 73 

Alewife Brook Parkway, 121 

Algonquin Club, 80 

American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 
78 

American Peace Society, 30 

American L'nitarian Association, 45 

Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- 
pany, 5, 13, 33 

Anderson Bridge, 11 1 

Andrew, Gov. John A., 13, 41, 129 

Andros, Sir Edmund, 5, 24, 25, 52, 53 

Angell, Dr. George T., 53, 92 

Appleton Chapel, Cambridge, 105 

Aquarium, 97 

Arborway, 1 19 

Archbishop of Boston, 96 

Arlington, 122 

Arlington Street Church, 77 

Army and Navy Monument, 32 

Arnold Arboretum, 100, 113, 119 

Arsenal, Watertown, 114 

Art Club, 88 

Art Museum, 46, 91 

Ashburton Place, 47 

Athenaeum, 26, 46, 47 

Athenaeum Press, 103 

Atlantic Avenue, vii, 10, 53, 65 

Attucks, Crispus, Monument, 33 

Avery oak, Dedham, 117 

Back Bay District, vii, 74, 95 

Back Bay station, viii, 81 

Bancroft, George, 1 1 

Banks, Nathaniel Prenti.ss, statue, 44 

Bartlett, Maj. Gen., statue, 42 

Bay State Road, 94 

Beacon, on Beacon Hill, 40, 41 

Beacon Hill, vii, 40, 68 

Beacon Hill Reservoir, 69 

Beacon Street, vii, 37-41, 44, 45, 47 

Beaver Brook and Waverley Oaks, 120 

Beverly, 128 

Blaxton, Rev. William, pioneer, 1, 37, 68 



Blaxton's spring, 70, 71 

Blue Hills Parkway, 115, 120, 121 

P)lue Hills Reservation, 3, 114, 120 

Booth, Edwin, 22, 72, 112 

Boston, founded, i ; incorporated, 2 ; pop- 
ulation, 3 ; Post Office Department, 3 

Bosto}i, frigate, site of shipyard, 64 

" Boston Basin," 3 

Boston City Club, 47 

Boston City Hospital, 96 

Boston City Parks System, 64, tig, 120 

Boston College, 96, 1 13 

Boston Common, surroundings, 31-39 

Boston Harbor, 126 

Boston Light, £26 

Boston Massacre, 5, 7, 16, 17,26,28,33,51 

Boston Medical Library, 93 

l?oston Museum, 21 

Boston Neck, i, 75, 95, iii 

Boston Normal School, 92 

Boston Opera House, 90, 91 

Boston Postal District, 3 

Boston Society of Natural History, 88 

" Boston Stone, 1737," 56 

Boston Symphony Orchestra, 30, 90 

Boston Tea Party, 16, 5r, 53, 54 

Boston University, 47, 70, 8i, 88, 95, 96 

Bostonian Society, 9 

Bradford, Gov. William, 130 

Bradford Manuscript, 43, 51 

Brattle Square Church, 17, 79, 94 

Brattle Street, Boston, r6, 17 

Brattle Street, Cambridge, m 

Braves Field, 95 

Breed's Hill, 66, 68 

Brewer Fountain, 37 

Brewster, Elder, 130 

Brighton District, 3, 100 

Brook Farm, 99 

Brookline, 2, 1 13 

Brooks, Phillips, 48, 86, 87, 107, 112 

Buckman Tavern, Lexington, 123 

Bulfinch, Charles (designer of " Bulfinch 
Front"), 12, 40, 41, 43, 60, 74, 107 

Bunker Hill Monument, 65-68 

Burial Hill, Plymouth, 130 

Bussey Park, 1 19 

Cadet Armory, 96 
Cambridge, For-112 
Cambridge Bridge, 73 
Cambridge Tunnel, 103 
Cape Ann, 3, 128 
Cape Cod, 130 



131 



132 



INDEX 



Cass, Col. Thomas, statue of, 77 

Castle Island, 98, 120 

Cathedral of the Holy Cross, 96 

Central Bunting Ground, Boston, 34 

Central Church, 79 

Central Hill, Somerville, 118 

Chamber of Commerce, 53 

Channing, William Ellerj*, 70, 76, 77, 112 

Charles River Banks, 120 

Charles River Basin, 73 

Charles Street, 72, 73 

Chariesgate, 94 

Charlestown District, r, 65-68 

Charlestown Heights, 68, 120 

Charter Street, Boston, 57, 64 

Chelsea, 2, 68, 117 

Chestnut Hill Park, 120 

Chestnut Hill Reservoir, 113 

Chestnut Street, 70, 72, 73 

Children's and Infants' Hospitals, 92 

Chilton Club, 80 

Choate, Rufus, portrait, 13 ; statue, 20 

Christ Church, Boston, 59-61 

Christ Church, Cambridge, no 

Christian Science Temple, 89, 90 

Church of the Advent, 73 

Church of the Disciples, 93 

Church of the Immaculate Conception, 96 

City Hall, 3, 48, 49 

City Hall Annex, 18, 19, 48 

City Point, South Boston, 97, 98 

City Square, Charlestown, 66 

Codfish, the historic, 9, 43 

Cohasset, 129 

Cole's Hill, Plymouth, 130 

College Club, 79 

College of Pharmacy, 92 

Collins, P. A., memorial, 94 

Collis P. Huntington Memorial, 92 

Columbus Avenue, 96 

Columbus Park, 98 

Commonwealth Armory, 95 

Commonwealth Avenue, 74, 78, 79, 80, 113, 

119 
Commonwealth Pier, 98 
Concord, 122, 124, 125 
Congregational House, 45 
Constitution Wharf, 64 
Copley, John Singleton, 13, 3S, 39, 68 
Copley Square and surroundings, viii, 74, 

80-89, 9 1 
Copp's Hill, 59, 64 
Comhill, 16 

Cottage Farm Bridge, 95 
Cotton, Rev. John, 5, 20, 22 
Court House, Boston, 20; Plymouth, 130 
Craddock house, Medford, 118 
Craigie Bridge, 73 
Creek Lane, 56 
Crescent Beach, r 17 
Custom House, Boston, ri ; Salem, 128 

Davis Square, West Somerville, 1 18 
Dawes, Col. Thomas, monument to, 22 



Daye, Stephen, first printer, 1 12 

Dedham, 116, 117 

Devens, Maj. Cen. Charles, statue, 44 

Diocesan House, 69 

Dock Square 4, 16 

Dorchester, i, 2, 3, 75, 100, 113 

Dorchester Heights, 97 

Dorchester Park, 119 

Dorchesterway, 113, 120 

Duxbury, 129 

E^ast Boston, 2, 3, 97 

East Cambridge, 103 

East Lexington, 122 

Eddy, Mary Baker, 90, 112 

Edward Everett Square, Dorchester, 75 

Eliot, John, 98, 99 

Emancipation Group, Park Square, 96 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 46, 48, 79, 104, 

124, 125 
Emmanuel Church, 78 
Endicott, Gov. John, ?.o 
Engineers' Club, 79 
English High School, 96 
Ericson, Leif, 79, m, 112 
Esplanade, 73 
Essex Institute, Salem, 128 
Ether Monument, 74, 76 
Everett, 68, 117 
Everett, Edward, 13, 41, 48, 75, 112 

Fairbanks house, Dedham, 117 

Faneuil, Peter, 8, 12, 14, 21, 26 

Faneuil Hall, 4, 11-15 

Farragut, Admiral, statue, 97 

Federal Building, 52, 53 

Federal Reserve Bank, 53 

Fens, go, 92-94, 113, 119 

Fenway, 92-94 

Fenway Court, 92 

Fenway Park, baseball grounds, 94 

First African M.E. Church, 72 

First Baptist Church, 17, 56, 79 

First National Bank, 53 

First Religious Society in Roxbury, 98 

Fish Pier, 98 

Forest Hills Cemeter>', 100 

Forsyth Dental Infirmary, 93 

Fort Hill Square, 53 

Fort Independence, 98, 120 

P>anklin, Benjamin, 17,27,48,52,55,63,96 

Franklin Park, 1 19 

Franklin Union, 96 

Furnace Brook Parkway, 121 

Gage, Gen. Thomas, 61, 62 

Gallows Hill, Salem, 128 

Gardner, Mrs. John L., art museum, 92 

Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, 29, 53, 78, 99, 100 

Gerry, Elbridge, 126 

Ginn and'Company, publishing house, 38, 

47 ; Athenaeum Press, 103 
Girls' High School, 96 
Girls' Latin School, 92 



INDEX 



^33 



Gloucester, 128 

Gore, Gov. Christopher, 26, 104, 114 

Governor Hutchinson Field, Milton, 115, 

121 
Governor's Island, [20 
Granary Burying Ground, cS, 26-29 
Granite Temple, Quincy, 115 
Great Blue Hill Observatory, 115 
Great Cove, 4, 10 
Great Elm, Boston Common, 32 
Great Fire of 1711,6, 8; of 1760, 7; of 

1872, 53, 86 
Green Dragon Tavern, site, 55 
Griffin's Wharf, scene of Boston Tea 

Party, 54 
Guild Steps, 39 

Hale, Edward Everett, 25, 47, 48, 76, 89. 

99 
Hancock, Gov. John, 13, 15, 17, 26, 27, 

28, 38, 39. 47. 48 
Hancock-Clarke house, Lexmgton, 123 
Hancock Tavern, 15 
Handel and Haydn Society, 90 
Harrington, Jonathan, a minuteman, killed 

at Lexington, 123 
Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, 

104-105 
Harvard, John, 66 
Harvard Bridge, 75, loi 
Harvard Club of Boston, 80 
Harvard Dental School, 74, 92 
Harvard Medical School, 74, 92, 93 
Harvard Musical Association, 30,72 
Harvard Observatory, 104, 112 
Harvard Square, 103, 104, 112 
Harvard University, 103-108, rt2 
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 11, ig, S2, 71, 1^4. 

.25, 128 
Higginson, Henry L., 30, 103, in 
Higginson, Thomas, W., 19 
High School of Commerce, 92 
Hingham, 129 
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 17, 24, 25, 29, 38, 

39, 47, 73, 80, 93, 109, 112, ii6 
Hooker, Maj. Gen. Joseph, statue, 44 
Horticultural Hall, 8g, 90 
Howe, Julia Ward, homes, 72, 80 
Howe, Samuel G., 112, 114 
Howells, William D., 71 
Huntington Avenue, 74, 75, 81, 89, 90, 91 
Huntington Avenue station, viii, 81 
Huntington Hall, 88 
Hutchinson, Anne, 44, 50 
Hutchinson, Gov. Thomas, 58, 59, 115 
Hyde Park District, 2, 3, 100 

Independence Monument (first), 4r 
Institute of Technology, 88, 101, 102 

Jackson College, 118 
Jamaica Plain, too, iig 
Jerusalem Road, Cohasset, 129 
Joy Street, 39, 69 



King's Beach and Lynn Shore Reserva- 
tion, 121 

King's Chapel, description, 23, 24, 25, 
48 

King's Chapel Burying Ground, 22, 23 

Kingston, 130 

Lafayette Mall, 34, 35 

Lake Waban, 114 

Latin School, Boston, 48, 96 ; Roxbury, 99 ; 

Cambridge, 103 
Lexington, 122, 123 
Liberty Tree, 34, 35 
Lodge, Henry Cabot, 70, 126 
Long, John D., 129 
Long Wharf, 10 

Longfellow, H. W., 71, no, m, n2 
Louisburg Square, 70, 71 
Lowell, James Russell, 33, 37, ni, n2 
Lowell Institute, 88 
Lynn, 126 

L>Tm Fells Parkway, 121 
Lynn Shore Reservation, 121 
Lynnway, 121 
Lynn Woods, 121 

Mann, Horace, statue, 41 

Marblehead, 126 

Marine Hospital, Chelsea, n7 

Marine Park, South Boston, 97, 98, 120 

Marshfield, 129 

Masonic Temple, 35 

Massachusetts Avenue, 74, 75, go, 94, 96, 

loi, 103, 104 
Massachusetts Bay, 126 
Massachusetts General Hospital, 74 
Massachusetts Historical Society, 93, 94 
Mather, Cotton, 48, 58, 62 
Mather, Increase, 57, 58, 60, 62 
blather, Samuel, 58, 59, 62 
Maverick, Samuel, 97, n7 
Mechanics Building, 81, 89 
Medford, n8 

Meetinghou.se Hill, Dorchester, 100 
" Merrymount," 116, 129 
Metropolitan District, cities and towns in, 

lOI 

Metropolitan Parks, 3, 120, 121 
Middlesex Fells, 121 
Middlesex Fells Parkway, 121 
Milk Street, vii, 52, 53 
Milton, n4, ns 

Minuteman statues : Lexington, 123 ; Con- 
cord, 125 
Morse, Samuel F. B., 66 
Motley, John Lothrop, 48, 72 
Mt. Auburn Cemetery, n2 
Mt. Vernon Church, 47, 94 
Mt. Vernon Street, 69, 70, 72, 73 
Mt. Wollaston, n6 
Muddy River, 94, 113 
Murray's Barracks, 17 
Music Hall, old, 30, 31 
Mystic River, 1^8 



134 



INDEX 



Mystic River Banks, 121 
Mystic Valley Parkway, 121 

Nahant, 126 

Nantasket Beach, 10, 120, i2g 

National Monument, Plymouth, 130 

National Shawmut Bank, 53 

Natural History Museum, ili, 88 

Naval Hospital, Chelsea, 117 

Navy Yard, Charlestown, 65 

Neponset River, 1(4 

Neponset River Banks, 120 

Neponset River Parkway, 121 

New England Conservatory of Music, go 

New lOngland Historic Genealogical So- 

cietv, 47 
New Old South Church, 87 
Newton, 1 13, 1 14 
Normal Art School, 8g 
North Battery (liattery Wharf), 10, 64 
North I'.nd, 3, 4, 54-65 ; beach, 120 
North Shore, 126, 128 
North Square, 57, 58, 59 
North Station, I'oston, viii 
Norumbega Park, 114 

" Old Corner Bookstore," 49 

Old Court House, 18, 19 

Old North Church, 58, 95 

Old Powder House, Somerville, 118 

Old South Meetinghouse, 50, 51, 52, 87 

Old State House, 4, 5, 7-10 

Old Town Dock, 15 

Olmsted Park, 100, 113, 119 

O'Reilly, John Boyle, monument to, 93, 94 

Otis, James, 14, 26, 27, 42, 49, 112 

Paine, Robert Treat, 13, 26, 48 

Park Square, 96 

Park Square lands, 89 

Park Street, viii, 35, 44, 45 

Park Street Church, 29, 30 

Parker, Capt. John, 44, 123 

Parker, Theodore, 19, 31, 99 

Parkman, Francis, 12, 72, 78 

Parkman, George F., 34 

Parkways, 121 

Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, 128 

Pemberton Square, 20, 21 

Perkins Institution for the r>lind, 114 

Peter Bent JSrigham Hospital, 92 

Phillips, Wendell, 13, 14, 19, 27, 39, 69, 77 

Pickering House, Salem, 12S 

Pilgrim Boulevard, 129 

Pilgrim Monument, 130 

Pinckney Street, 68, 71, 73 

Pitcairn, Major, 57, 61, 123, 124 

Plymouth, 129, 130 

Post Office, 52 

Post Office .Square, 53 

Powderhorn Hill, Chelsea, 117 

Pratt School of Naval Architecture, 102 

Prescott, Col. William, statue, 66 

Prescott, William H., 40, 94 



Prince, Rev. Thomas, 26, 51 

Prospect Hill, Somerville, 118; Waltham, 

114 
Province House, 52, 94 
Provincetown, 130 
Public Garden, 74, 76, 77, 119 
Public Latin School, 48 
Public Librar>', 10, 81-85 
Public parks, 1 19-1 21 

Quakers, 17, 19, 32 

Quincy, 2, 115, 116, 129 

Quincy, Dorothy, 116 

Quincy, Edmund, 116 

Quincy, Josiah, 11, 45, 49 

Quincy mansion house, Quincy, 116 

Quincy Market House, 11 

Quincy Shore, 120 

Radcliffe College, no 

Reservoir Park, 113 

Revere, Paul, 26, 55, 57, 58, 60, 64, 1 14, 

122, 123 
Revere Beach, 117, 121 
Riverbank, 73, i ig 
Riverway, 92, 113, i ig 
Robert Bent Brigham Hospital, 92 
Rockport, 128 
Rogers Park, 120 
Rowe"s Wharf, 10 
Ro.xbury District, i, 2, 3, g8, gg 
Roxbury Latin School, gg 
Royall mansion house, IVIedford, 118 

St. Margaret's Hospital, 71 
St. Paul, Cathedral Church of, 35 
Salem, i, I28 
Salem Street, 56 , 
School Street, 48 
Scituate, i2g 

Scollay Square, viii, 16, 18, 54, 55, 65 
Second Church, 58, 95 
Shaw, Col. Robert G., Memorial, 37 
Simmons College, 92 

Society for the Preservation of New Eng- 
land Antiquities, 74 
Soldiers Field, 1 1 1 
Soldiers' Home, Chelsea, 117 
Somerset Club, 39 
Somerset Street, 47 
.Somerville, 68, 118 
South Armor\% 89 
South Battery (Rowe's Wharf), 10 
South Boston, 2, 3, 97, 98, 120 
South Congregational Church, 89 
South End, 95, g6 
.South Shore, 129, 130 
South .Station, viii 
Spring Hill, .Somerville, 118 
Stadium, i n 
Standish, Miles, 129, 130 
State House, 40-44 
State Street, 4, 5, 7 
Stony Brook Reservation, 120 



INDEX 



35 



Strandway, 113, 120 

Stuart, Gilbert, 13, 34, 46 

Stuart Street, 8g 

Subway, 31 ; Park Street station, 35 ; map 

of route, 36 
" Suffolk Resolves " house, Milton, 1 14 
Sumner, Charles, 14, 30, 69, 77, 109, 112 
Symphony Hall, 90 

Tea Party Wharf, 53, 54 

Telegraph Hill, South Boston, 97 

Temple Israel, 95 

Thoreau, Henry D., 125 

Town Dock, 4, 16 

Town Hill, Charlestown, 66 

Town House, Boston, first, 8, 10 ; second, 8 

Tremgnt Place, 47 

Tremont Row, 20 

Tremont Street, 20 

Tremont Temple, 25 

Trinity Church, 86, 87 

Trinity Place station, viii, 8f 

Tufts College, 91, 118 

Twentieth Century Club, 69 

Union Club, 45 
Unitarian Building, 45 
University Club, 80 

Vane, Sir Harry, 20, 82 
Village Square, Brookline, 113 

Walden Pond, Concord, 125 
Waltham, 3, 114 



Waltham Watch Company, 114 

Warren, Gen. Joseph, 13, 18, 24, 27, 51, 

55. 67, 99 
Warren Bridge, 65 
Washington, George, 12, 41, 43, 46, 51, 61, 

77, 107, 109, 110, III, 128 
Washington Street, viii, 5, 16, 52 
Watertown, i, 114 
Waverley Oaks Reservation, 120 
Webster, Daniel, 33, 41, 47; 67, 129 
Wellesley, 114 
Wentworth Institute, 92 
West P)Oston Bridge, 103 
West Cedar Street, 72 
West Church, 74 

West Roxbury District, 3, 99, 100, iig, 121 
Winter Hill, Somerville, 118 
Winthrop, Gov. John, i, 6, 18, 19, 22, 44, 

50, 51, 66, 79, 112, 117, 128 
Winthrop, 117 
Winthrop Parkway, 121 
Winthrop Shore Reser\'ation, 121 
Winthrop Square, Charlestown, 65 
Witch House, Salem, 128 
Women's City Club, 39 
Wood Island Park, 97, 120 
Writing school, first, 60 
Writing School, first Free, 18 

Young Men's Christian Association Build- 
ing, 90 
Young Men's Christian Union, 35 

Zoological Garden, 119 



MOTOR SIGHT-SEEING TRIPS 



Sight-seeing trips about Boston and its vicinity are operated by com- 
panies which give excellent service. The trips are in charge of capable 
and well-informed chauffeurs and lecturers. The usual starting points 
for these trips are Hotel Brunswick, corner Boylston and Clarendon 
streets, in or about Park Square, and near the South Station in Dewey 
Square. For some of the tours passengers will be sent for, within a 
reasonable distance, without extra charge. Descriptive folders and special 
information regarding these trips may be obtained at the leading hotels. 

During the height of the New England tourist season Boston has an 
unusual number of visitors, and the popularity of these trips may tax the 
capacity of the sight-seeing cars. It is prudent to engage seats in advance 
of the hours scheduled for leaving. 

The trips covering Old and Modern Boston and Residential Boston and 
Cambridge take comparatively little time. 

A longer trip to Lexington and Concord, which includes, going or re- 
turning, parts of Boston. Brookline, Cambridge, Arlington, Waltham, and 
Watertown, — in all a fifty-mile tour, — requires about four hours. Sim- 
ilar in time and distance is a trip to Wellesley and Dedham. which includes 
the Park System, Brookline, the Newtons, and the return by way of the 
ocean front and City Point. 

A tour of sixty miles with Marblehead and Salem as objectives requires 
somewhat more than four hours. A beautiful all-day tour can be made 
from Boston to historic Plymouth by way of Quincy, Hingham, Jeru- 
salem Road, and the South Shore, the distance covered being about one 
hundred miles. 

A similar all-day tour to quaint Gloucester can be made to include 
Salem and the North Shore Drive. 

The above-mentioned sight-seeing motor tours are suggestions. Other 
trips in and about Boston and trips covering greater distances and re- 
quiring two or three days are also offered by the companies which 
operate this service. 



36 



IMPORTANT POINTS OF INTEREST 

The visitor who has only two or three days to spend in Boston will find the 
following list of leading points of interest helpful in arranging an itinerary. 

THE CENTRAL DISTRICT 

Old State House. Head of State Street. Memorial halls with historical 
collections, pictures, and library (see pp. 8-10). 

Custom House Tower. State Street, corner of India Street. Built 191 2. 
Apex about 495 feet from the pavement, — the tallest building in New 
England. The granite-pillared front, part of the Old Custom House, 
dates from 1847 (see p. n). 

Faneuil Hall. Faneuil Hall Square. Also military museum of the 
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in their armory on the upper 
floors (see pp. 11-15). 

Quincy Market House. Opposite Faneuil Hall. Extends to Commer- 
<:ial Street. The long granite structure was built, 1825-1826, during the 
administration of Josiah Quincy, first Mayor of Boston (see p. 11). 

Suffolk County Court House. Pemberton Square (see p. 20). 

King's Chapel. Tremont Street, corner of School Street. Dating from 
1754. Interesting interior (see pp. 23-25). 

King's Chapel Burying Ground. Tremont Street, adjoining the Chapel. 
Oldest in Boston, established at about the time of the settlement. Con- 
tains tombs of the Winthrops, John Cotton, Governor Leverett, and 
numerous other Colonial families (see pp. 22-23). 

Granary Burying Ground. Tremont Street, midway between Beacon 
and Park streets. Dating from 1660. Tombs and graves of governors 
of the Colony and the Commonwealth, and of Samuel Adams, James 
Otis, John Hancock, Paul Revere, Peter Faneuil, the parents of Benjamin 
Franklin, with many others of distinction or interest (see pp. 26-29). 

Park Street Church. Corner of Tremont and Park streets. Dating 
from 1809. Historic. Interesting specimen of early nineteenth-century 
architecture, notably the tower and spire (see pp. 29-30). 

Cathedral Church of St. Paul. Tremont Street, near Temple Place, 
opposite the Common. The church dating from 1820. Interesting 
interior. Pew No. 25 that of Daniel Webster (see p. 35). 

See also reverse of Plates II, III, and IV. 



PLATE I 




PLATE IL 




IMPORTANT POINTS OF INTEREST 

State House. Beacon Hill. Beacon Street and State House Park. 
Front part — the " Bulfinch Front" so called — built 1 795-1 797. Sev- 
eral later extensions. Decorated interior. Numerous interesting features. 
Memorial Hall, with the battle flags, statues, and portraits. The " Brad- 
ford manuscript " in the State Library. State House Park, with statues 
and monument (see pp. 40-44). 

Shaw Monument. Beacon Street against the Common, opposite the 
State House. Memorial to Colonel Robert G. Shaw, commander of the 
first regiment of colored troops in the Civil War. A statue in high relief 
upon a bronze tablet by Augustus St. Gaudens. The most imposing 
piece of outdoor sculpture in the city (see p. 37). 

Boston Athenaeum. 10^ Beacon Street. Proprietary library. Dating 
from 1807, oldest in the country. Interesting interior (see pp. 46-47). 

House of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Ashburton 
Place. Contains the most extensive and valuable genealogical collection 
known (see p. 47). 

City Hall, School Street. City Hall Annex, site of the old Court 
House, Court Street. A foot passage, " City Hall Avenue," connects 
the buildings (see pp. 18-19, 48-49). 

Old South Meetinghouse. Washington Street, corner of Milk Street. 
Loan historical collection (see pp. 50-52). 

Federal Building. Post Office Square. A gloomy pile of granite that 
checked the Great Fire of 1872, surrounded by modern buildings 
devoted to banking and business (see pp. 52-53). 

Federal Reserve Bank. Pearl, Franklin, and Oliver streets. Completed 
1922. Members' Court beautifully designed. Interesting mural paintings 
in Junior Officers' room (see p. 53). 

THE NORTH END 

Paul Revere's House. North Square ; also various other old houses 
and historic sites of the North End (see pp. 57-59)- 

Christ Church. Salem Street. Oldest existing church in Boston. Inter- 
esting interior (see pp. 59-61). 

Copp's Hill Burying Ground. Hull Street, opening opposite to Christ 
Church. Oldest part dating from 1660. Historic tombs and graves (see 
pp. 61-64). 

See also reverse of Plates /, ///, and IV. 



IMPORTANT POINTS OF INTEREST 

THE CHARLESTOWN DISTRICT 

United States Navy Yard. Approach from City Square through 
Chelsea Street, Charlestovvn. Naval Museum (see p. 65). 

Bunker Hill Monument. Monument Square, Charlestown. A few 
minutes' ride on the elevated railway from the North Station. Revolu- 
tionary relics in the lodge (see pp. 66-67). 

THE WEST END 

Louisburg Square. Between Mt. Vernon and Pinckney Streets. The 
fine dignity of the residences in the square and in the neighboring streets 
suggests a bit of old London (see pp. 70-71). 

The Cambridge Bridge. Charles and Cambridge Streets. The most 
beautiful of the bridges which cross the Charles River. Replaces the 
old West Boston Bridge (see p. 73). 

Massachusetts General Hospital. Central Building, designed by Bulfinch, 
faces Fruit Street (see p. 74). 

Old West Church. Cambridge Street, corner of Lynde Street. Now 
the West End Branch of the Public Library. Built in 1806. Interior 
architecture well preserved. Successor of the West Church of the 
Revolutionary period, which was occupied as barracks by the British, 
who pulled down the steeple and used it for firewood, the patriots having 
employed it for signaling the camp at Cambridge (see p. 74). 

Harrison Gray Otis House. 2 Lynde Street. Opposite the Old West 
Church. Built 1795 and recently restored as the Headquarters of the 
Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. Fine ex- 
ample of a residence of its period. Interesting interior and furnishings 
(see p. 74). 

THE BACK BAY 

Arlington Street Church. Boylston and Arlington Streets. Exterior 
designed after old London Wren churches (see pp. 77-78)- 

First Baptist Church. Commonwealth Avenue and Clarendon Street. 
Massive square stone tower with frieze and colossal bas-reliefs (see 
pp. 79-80). 

Boston University. Jacob Sleeper Hall, the chief building. Boylston 
and Exeter Streets (see p. 81). 

See also reverse of Plates /, //, and IV. 



PLATE III. 




PLATE IV. 



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-RESERVATIOH' 



IMPORTANT POINTS OF INTEREST 

Public Library. Copley Square. One of the notable architectural 
monuments of America. Mural decorations by John S. Sargent, Edwin 
A. Abbey, and Puvis de Chavannes. Oldest free library maintained by 
taxation in any city of the world (see pp. 81-85). 

Trinity Church. Copley Square. One of the richest examples of 
ecclesiastical architecture in the country (see p. 86). 

Phillips Brooks Memorial. By the side of Trinity Church (see p. 87). 

New Old South Church. Copley Square. Noteworthy for richness of 
design (see p. 87). 

Natural History Museum. Berkeley Street, corner of Boylston Street 
(see p. 88). 

Christian Science Temple. Falmouth Street, with beautiful grounds in 
front, extending to Huntington Avenue. Building of fine proportions 
with lofty dome (see pp. 89-90). 

Art Museum. Huntington Avenue (see p. 91). 

Harvard University School of Medicine. Longwood Avenue. The Medi- 
cal School is the center for a great group of hospitals (see pp. 92-93). 

THE SOUTH END 

Cathedral of the Holy Cross. Washington Street. The largest Roman 
Catholic church in New England (see p. 96). 

Boston City Hospital. An extensive group of buildings with a gate lodge 
on Harrison Avenue (see p. 96). 

CAMBRIDGE 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Old buildings, Boylston Street 
(see p. 88). The " New Technology," Cambridge, facing the Charles 
River Basin. At the end of the Harvard Bridge (Massachusetts Ave- 
nue and Charles River Parkway) (see pp. 101-102). 

Harvard University Buildings and Museums. Cambridge ; fifteen 
minutes from Park Street, by Cambridge Subway (see pp. 103-112). 

Various parts of the chain of parks comprised in the Boston City 
Parks System and the public reservations embraced in the Metropolitan 
Parks System are within easy reach by electric or steam cars (see Pub- 
lic Parks, pp. 119-121), and there are pleasant harbor excursions to be 
enjoyed, occupying only a few hours or part of a day (see Boston Har- 
bor and Massachusetts Bay, pp. 126-130). 

See also reverse of Plates /, //, and III. 



